


Teenage Wasteland

by NoirAngel011



Series: Etheria High [1]
Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Ableism, All Content Warning Will Be On Each Chapter They Apply To, Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst with a Happy Ending, Canon Lesbian Character, Canon Lesbian Relationship, Child Abuse, Childhood Friends, Classism, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/F, F/M, High School, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Medium Burn, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Rated T for language, lesbians in love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-30
Updated: 2021-03-06
Packaged: 2021-03-09 03:15:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Underage
Chapters: 35
Words: 55,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27277843
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NoirAngel011/pseuds/NoirAngel011
Summary: Playlists:Adora's Betrayal Playlist (Just Catra being an angsty 15 y/o for a little over an hour):https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6YqJzLkpABPBqLq2Fdmscv?si=hqc4Bj4pS86giCucc1oKMgTeenage Wasteland Soundtrack (Otherwise known as Etheria High Soundtrack):https://open.spotify.com/playlist/10pZdgUji8kFUqmkjqIEIF?si=raM9WbE0SFyA5IjQB3LL9wWas originally titled: Adora Grayskull's Sophomore Year.When Adora had stolen a car, she hadn’t meant for it to end with her and her best friend Catra’s relationship in shambles. But it had, so both sides had made some new friends to try and fill the gaps in their hearts. Adora isn’t done trying to repair this relationship though, even if Catra may have seemingly moved on. She’s just hoping that she can get through to her before it’s too late.And then there’s the Princess Alliance to deal with.AKA: the She-Ra Highschool AU nobody asked for. Basically, it’s just everyone trying their best to make it out of sophomore year alive. Featuring a lot of high school drama, rumors, partying, and of course, an abundance of sexual tension between our two favorite idiot lesbians. It’s a teenage wasteland.Updates every Wednesday and Friday.
Relationships: Adora & Bow & Glimmer (She-Ra), Adora & Bow (She-Ra), Adora & Glimmer (She-Ra), Adora/Catra (She-Ra), Bow/Glimmer (She-Ra), Catra & Double Trouble (She-Ra), Catra & Entrapta & Scorpia (She-Ra), Catra & Scorpia (She-Ra), Catra & Shadow Weaver | Light Spinner (She-Ra), Mermista/Sea Hawk (She-Ra), Perfuma/Scorpia (She-Ra)
Series: Etheria High [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2031805
Comments: 113
Kudos: 213





	1. Prolouge

**Author's Note:**

> Working on making two playlists, a soundtrack for the story as well as Adora's Betrayal Playlist, a playlist of all the songs Catra thinks describe Adora leaving her. If you have any ideas, let me know in a comment!

"This is such a bad idea, Catra," Adora said, stirring the bleach mixture in the bowl.

"It's gonna look great, 'Dora," Catra assured her as she brushed through her hair with a comb.

"What if all your hair falls out?!" Adora set down the brush she was using to mix the bleach.

"It won't. I spent 30 dollars on the good shit from Sally's for a reason. Stop freaking out and hand me those clips." Catra gestured towards the large hair clips laying on the counter. Adora handed her two and Catra sectioned off the front two sections of her hair and clipped back the rest.

"Okay, so we have to bleach it, let it sit under foil for a while, and then rinse it out. Then we can add the color," Adora listed off the instructions from the paper she was reading.

"Okay, give me the brush." Catra slid on a pair of plastic gloves and held her hand out for the dye brush. Adora handed it to her with a shaking hand after hesitating for a moment.

"Come on, Adora! We've only got an hour before your mom gets home." Catra took the brush from Adora.

She began to apply the bleach, doing her best to make it look even. She wasn't exactly sure what she was doing. Adora sat on the counter, watching her while biting her lip.

Catra just focused on the mirror in front of her, trying not to get bleach anywhere it wasn't supposed to go. She wrapped her hair in foil and then set down the brush.

"Okay, I think I did it right. Set the timer for 30 minutes and let's go sit in the sun." Catra took off her gloves and set them aside.

"Why?" Adora asked as she jumped down off the counter, ponytail swinging.

Catra rolled her eyes. "Heat helps the bleach set, obviously!" Catra grabbed Adora's hand and pulled her out of the bathroom, leading her down the stairs and out the back door.  
It was hot outside at the tail end of summer. School was set to start in two weeks.

"Sophomore year, huh?" Adora asked as the two girls sat in deck chairs on the back porch.

"Sophomore year. Are you excited?" Adora nodded.

"Yeah, I am. You?"

Catra shrugged. "I haven't thought much about it. It's just like any other year, right?" 

"It's high school, Catra!"

"Last year was high school, dummy." Catra snickered.

Adora leaned over and little elbow her. "You know what I mean. We have to start thinking about college, extracurriculars, GPA!" Catra closed her eyes, fake snoring. Adora shoved her jokingly.

"We can think about that later. We still have two weeks, let's enjoy summer." Adora stared at the side of Catra's face, studying her features.

Her cheeks were dusted in freckles, her eyelashes were long against her under eyes as she had her eyes closed. She had a perfect button nose and a beautiful side profile. Strong brows, full lips, rosy cheeks against tanned skin. Catra was gorgeous. 

"Take a picture, it'll last longer," Catra said, smiling. Adora giggled.

"Sorry, you're just really pretty," Adora told her. Catra opened her eyes and turned to look at her best friend.

"Really?" she asked. Adora nodded.

"Yeah, really." Catra smiled.

"You are too."

Adora beamed.

After sitting in the sun for half an hour, the girls returned to Adora's bathroom. Catra jumped in the shower to rinse out the bleach. When she got out, wrapped in a fuzzy robe of Adora's, her hair was a yellowish-white color.

"It worked!" Adora cheered. Catra smiled.

"It did. Hairdryer." Catra held her hand out for the already plugged in hairdryer. She began to dry her hair, brushing through it as she went.

She put on her gloves again, resectioned her hair, and poured the dye into a bowl.

"Going for gray?" Adora asked. Catra nodded.  
"I thought it was cool." Catra began to apply the dye to her newly bleached hair.

She wrapped it up in foil and was taking it put twenty minutes later just as Adora's mother got home. The two girls raced to clean up the mess and Catra forwent another shower, instead rinsing out the dye in the bathroom sink.

Catra and Adora crashed onto Adora's bed just as Marlena opened her bedroom door.

"Hey girls, what's going on in here?" she asked. Both smiled, trying to look natural as they laid on Adora's bed.

"Nothing! We're all good!" Adora said awkwardly. Catra rolled her eyes.

"We're fine, Mrs. Gray." Catra shot her a smooth smile and Marlena nodded suspiciously, leaving the room and shutting the door behind her.

Catra and Adora let out twin sighs of relief before bursting into laughter.


	2. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please let this preface the story:  
> The AU is a fanfiction inspired by and derived from She-Ra and Princesses of Power. While it contains many familiar characters, they are not the same. If at any point you are reading this story and think that someone is acting OOC, it was intended. All actions of every character have been carefully planned out to further the story. These characters both grew up and live in a very different world than the one portrayed in the TV show. They are 15 and 16-year-old high school students, not 19 and 20-year-old princesses at war. This story will follow the most basic plot of the show and not every plot point will be included. This story is focused on, as the description says, the characters making it through their sophomore year of high school. It is focused on personal relationships more so than an overarching plot. I want to especially call out Adora here. She will not be the protagonist she was in SPOP, she will be her own protagonist with a different backstory and different motives. Catra is the same way. Don't expect to find a war criminal out of her, expect to find an abused and broken girl who's trying her best. Please remember this as you go into the story.

Adora was almost late to soccer tryouts, well, by her standards. She raced through the halls during her lunch period as she tried to get to the field.

She still had fifteen minutes, but that was fifteen minutes to get changed and warmed up. She picked up her pace.

When she reached the locker room, she threw on her uniform as fast as she could and adjusted her ponytail before racing out to the field. She stood next to Kyle, Lonnie, and Roger while waiting for Coach Weaver.

“Has anyone seen Catra?” she asked, looking around for any sign of her best friend. Everyone shook their heads. She sighed.

There were only four spots left on the team, but Adora was confident Catra would get one of them. After all, Coach Weaver was her adoptive mother. Even if they but heads, it was pretty much guaranteed that you would get a spot on whatever team you wanted to if one of your parents was the coach.

The tryout started, and in true typical Catra fashion, she sauntered out onto the field last minute. Adora rolled her eyes.

“Hey Adora,” she practically purred, catching the ball Adora had sent towards her with her foot easily. Despite what she claimed, all those years in gymnastics were more than just a cool party trick.

Catra was a lithe girl with dark brown hair and two different colored eyes. One was blue and the other was hazel and in most lighting, it almost looked yellow. People made fun of her for it, but Adora thought she looked beautiful.

After the tryouts they were all back in the locker room, changing before sixth period after soccer had taken up all of their lunch and fifth.

Adora was laughing at some dumb joke Catra told when Coach Weaver came in.

“Adora, Lonnie, Kyle, Roger, you made the team. Maybe next year Catra.” She sent a look towards the brunette that almost made Adora’s blood boil. Catra looked disappointed but tried to play it off like she didn’t care. “Adora, walk with me.”

Adora reluctantly followed the coach.

“Coach Weaver, with respect, don’t you think Catra deserves to be on the team too? She’s just as good of a player as the rest of us,” Adora said.

“Katherine is a disrespectful girl, no matter how well she may play. She has no work ethic. I want committed players on my team.”

“But-” Adora was cut off.

“We are done discussing Katherine, Adora. Now. I want you to be team captain.”

“Wha- really?”

“Yes, Adora. You are an exceptional player and leader, and I want you to lead my team to victory.” Adora’s eyes lit up as Coach Weaver handed her an arm wrap thing that would identify her as team captain. “Now run along now before you’re late to class.”

Adora followed her orders, running back to the locker room to grab her stuff before heading to class. When she entered the locker room, Catra was gone. She decided to deal with it after school and made her way to geometry.

After school she found Catra sitting on the bleachers by the soccer field, knees pulled up to her chest.

“There you are,” Adora said, sliding down next to her. Catra glanced up at her.

“I heard that you’re team captain now,” she mumbled.

“Yeah. Hey, I’m sorry you didn’t make the team. I tried to convince her, but she was stubborn.”

“Shadow Bitch is always stubborn. I don’t care. I’m over it.” Adora could tell that Catra wasn’t over it. 

She held up a set of gray car keys.

“Wanna go for a joyride?” Catra laid eyes on the keys and jumped up, a huge smile on her face. Adora smiled too as she followed her to the parking lot.

They were ripping it through the back roads of Bright Moon. Trees passed by them in a blur of colors and they could faintly hear the ocean over the sounds of the wind. Catra had her head out the window.

“Okay, you are officially awesome! Stealing Shadow Bitch’s car!? That’s high even for you!!”

Adora laughed. She hadn’t seen Catra this happy in a while.

They rode around for almost an hour, driving through forests, past the beach, through town, and finally back to school. When they finally pulled back into the parking lot to drop off the car, Coach Weaver was waiting for them. Adora gulped. They were screws

“Fuck,” Catra said, rolling her window up as she sunk down in her seat.

And that was how on only the second day of sophomore year, Adora Grayskull had landed herself in detention.

It actually could have been worse. Coach Weaver was thoroughly pissed and had been ready to punish Catra to hell, but Adora took up for her by saying that it had been her idea. Because it was. She wasn't about to let her best friend get in trouble for something she had talked her into. Now she was paying the price. Detention. She was in with two of the preppy kids and already wanted to die. She would much rather be out causing mischief with Catra than doing homework stuck in a room with Glimmer, Principal Angela’s daughter, and Bow, Mr. Lance’s and Mr. George's son.

Glimmer was a short girl with pink and purple hair. If she hadn’t been ridiculously rich, it would have looked trashy. It was fluffy and kind of suited her. Her eyes were hazel and her clothes screamed spoiled. Bow however was a sweet-looking boy, tall and muscular. He almost always wore crop tops and made sure that he was sporting his signature heart somewhere on his attire. Adora couldn’t tell if his hair was just a really weird shade of brown or if it was dyed purple.

The teacher had left for a bathroom break when Bow broke the silence.

“So, what are you in for?” he turned to Adora. She rolled her eyes.

“I prefer not to make pleasantries with the kids who dumped trash on my best friend last year.” Adora went back to her homework.

“Oh, that little Katherine bitch? Yeah, she deserved it.” Glimmer snorted.

“How did she deserve it?!” Adora was angry now, she stood up from her seat.

The event in question had taken place at the end of their freshmen year. Catra had been about to walk out of the lunchroom with Adora when Glimmer had rolled one of the large trash cans students used to throw away their lunch trash at Catra. It had hit her hard enough that she felt backward and Adora had barely caught her before she fell into it. Luckily, she hadn't been injured save for a small scrape on her arm from the plastic bin scratching her, but Adora had never forgotten the incident.

“I’m surprised you associate with someone so low. Explains why your brother won’t even look at you.” Glimmer inspected her nails.

“Oh yeah, Elizabeth? I’m sorry that I choose to hang around people who actually make me happy, rather than the preppy assholes that are just mean to everyone else!” Glimmer and Bow both gasped. Glimmer flushed red while Bow sunk down into his chair. Nobody called Glimmer by her real name and got away with it.

Glimmer rose from her seat. Bow jumped up too.

“Hey, guys! Calm down. You both said some things I’m sure you regret and if you just apologize to each other, we can go back to riding out detention in silence. Yeah? Yeah. We should do that.” Bow grabbed Glimmer’s shoulders and pushed her back down into her chair. Adora sat down too, glaring daggers at Glimmer still.

The silence continued on for almost five more minutes before Adora broke it.

“So what did you guys do?” Adora asked them.

“Wouldn’t you like to know?” Glimmer snapped back.

“I would, actually,” Adora replied. Glimmer groaned.

“I snuck out of the house and apparently when you’re mom’s the Principal your punishments continue to school. There, happy?” Adora smirked, leaning back in her seat. She looked to Bow.

“You?”

“I was the one who suggested we sneak out. What about you?”

Adora laughed. “I stole Coach Weaver’s car to cheer Catra up. We got caught.” Glimmer snickered.

“Maybe you are cool, I mean, stealing a teacher's car? Whatever made you even think of that?” she asked.

"Catra's trained me to think outside the box." Adora winked and both girls laughed. Adora was surprised to find herself actually getting along with these two.

“What was your name again?” Bow asked.

“Adora.”

Suddenly, the door was kicked open. Literally, the doorknob turned, and then it was kicked open like in one of those dumb movies.

“Yo, Adora, the teach is locked in the bathroom, let’s go!” Catra said, sticking her head into the room. Adora’s brow furrowed.

“And who locked him in the bathroom?” she asked.

“Irrelevant,” was Catra’s response. “Now come on! Shadow Bitch is gonna catch us if we don’t hurry. We can hide out at your place!” Catra beckoned her forward. Adora shook her head.

“That’s wrong, Catra. I’m here for a reason, I’m not just breaking out of detention with you.” Adora crossed her arms over her chest. Catra’s face fell.

“Why not? We break the rules all the time! What, these assholes got into your head that you need to be a goody-two-shoes now?” Adora stood up and came over to Catra. She looked back at Glimmer and Bow.

“I don’t want to get in even more trouble, Catra. I’m better than that, we’re better than that.” She reached for Catra’s hand but the brunette pulled away.

“So what? You just wanna throw away years of friendship for some bitches you just met?!” Catra had tears brimming her eyes. Adora tried to reach out again.

“No, Catra. I never said that I didn’t want to be your friend. Why can't we just all be friends? They're actually pretty cool once you give them a chance.” But Catra wasn’t listening.

“I don’t wanna be friends with someone who chooses the people who bully me over me. I'm not going to share my best friend with assholes who hate me.” And with that, she ran out. As Adora watched her go her face fell. She felt her own tears forming.

She silently made her way back to her seat, not knowing what else to do. She slid down into it, placing her head down on the desk in her arms.

“Fuck. I really fucked up,” she whispered. Bow and Glimmer shared a look of pity and remorse.

“Well, if you and Catra are over, I guess you could join us,” Glimmer said flippantly. Adora looked up.

“Do I really have a choice? It was only ever me and Catra, and now it’s just me.” Adora looked to the floor.

"Why don't you just go talk to her?" Bow asked. Adora shook her head.

"I know Catra. She's angry right now and needs time to cool off. She's just going to blow up again if I try and go after her."

“If that's the case, you can go after her tomorrow. But for today, you could hang out with us instead” Bow said. Adora looked up at him and softly smiled.

“I guess you guys aren’t as bad as I thought.”

The teacher came back into the room after that, looking thoroughly pissed off.

“Some delinquent locked me into the bathroom, you three can go,” he said. Bow, Adora, and Glimmer took that as their cue, grabbing their things and rushing out of the room and to Glimmer’s car.

“Wanna have a sleepover, since we’re like, besties now?” Glimmer asked as she climbed into the driver's side. Bow took the passengers and Adora crawled into the back.

“Best Friend Squad sleepover!” Bow exclaimed. Adora and Glimmer laughed.

“We are not calling ourselves that,” Adora said. It almost felt like her new friends were making her move on way too fast. She felt like a piece of her was missing when she opened her phone and looked at her background which was set as a selfie of her and Catra. She turned her phone off and pushed it away, trying to forget it. Remembering only hurt, and she didn't want to ruin the good mood. She would go after Catra tomorrow and try to explain, this wasn't the end. She just kept telling herself that.

“Yeah, I prefer the Glimmer Group.” Bow rolled his eyes.

“No, we’re the Best Friend Squad.”


	3. Chapter 2

_“I don’t wanna be friends with someone who chooses the people who bully me over me. I'm not going to share my best friend with assholes who hate me.”_

_Adora was sobbing, Catra was starting to cry in front of her. They were alone in a stark white room and Adora just wanted to reach out and hold her but she couldn’t move. Catra turned and hugged herself, starting to walk away. Adora tried to call after her, but her lips were stuck together._

_She watched Catra vanish into a white void, the sounds of her cries echoing until Adora couldn’t see her retreating back anymore._

_She was finally able to fall to her knees, and when she did she just cried into her hands, the loss of her best friend weighing heavy on her heart._

Adora woke up on the third day of Sophomore year on a floor. She sat up groggily, the memories of her dream fleeting away like Catra had. Looking around, she tried to get her bearings. She realized after a minute when the day before’s events came flooding back to her.

Detention. Bow and Glimmer. Her and Catra’s fight. The sleepover.

She felt tears welling up in her eyes. She carefully pulled herself out of her sleeping bag and made her way towards Glimmer’s bathroom. She stood in front of the sink, finally letting the tears fall. Caught up in the fun of a sleepover with her new friends, she hadn’t had the time to properly grieve Catra. She hadn’t wanted to. She kept telling herself that it would all be okay, that she would get Catra back.

She let herself cry for no longer than five minutes. It was a lot to process, the loss of her best friend. The girl who had been by her side for almost eleven years. All of a sudden she was just gone from her life, and it was horrible. But Adora knew that she had to pull herself together. She needed to get ready for school. There, she could talk to Catra and work things out.

She got dressed and pulled her hair up, cleaning her face, and sliding her shoes on. When Adora emerged from the bathroom, Glimmer and Bow were just waking up. She smiled at them.

“Morning you two.” The words felt foreign on her tongue. She had only ever had one friend before. She had only ever woken up with Catra by her side.

They looked at her and smiled. Bow climbed out of his sleeping bag and pushed past her into the bathroom with a greeting that fell on deaf ears. 

Adora would honestly rather be at the gym right now, taking out her emotions on a punching bag, than in the plush pink room that was at least three times the size of her room at home.

“Ugh, how can you be awake so early?” Glimmer groaned as she took her eye mask off. Adora shrugged.  
“Force of habit.”

Glimmer just rolled her eyes and continued to stretch before rolling out of bed to shower when Bow exited the bathroom. Bow and Adora sat in separate spots of Glimmer’s room while she got ready. When she emerged after what Adora thought was a ridiculous amount of time to spend getting ready, the trio headed down the stairs, grabbing a quick breakfast of toaster strudels before walking out the door to Glimmer’s car. Her mom was already at school, being principal and all.

On the ride to school, Adora felt nervous. She had only ever hung out with Catra before, with the exceptions of Lonnie, Kyle, and Roger occasionally. Now, she had a whole new group of friends without Catra. For some reason, she kind of felt like she was missing a part of herself.

When they got to school, Adora followed Glimmer and Bow in. They walked to the cafeteria where all their other friends were hanging out. Adora spotted a few kids she knew, the lunch lady’s granddaughter, Mara, being one of them. She was on the soccer team and had been captain last year.

“Come on, you’ve gotta meet Nancy,” Glimmer said eagerly, grabbing Adora’s hand and leading her over to a tall blonde girl wearing a flower crown.

“Glimmer! Hi!” She greeted, waving.

“Hey, Nancy! I want you to meet Adora! She’s one of us now,” Glimmer said.

“Nice to meet you,” she said, holding a hand out. Nancy shook it.

“You can call me Perfuma. Most people do,” the blonde said with a wink. Adora smiled back.

“Adora,” she said plainly. Perfuma smiled at her.

“It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Adora,” she said. Catra would say that she sounded like some sort of princess. Two days ago, Adora would have laughed at that. Now, she wasn’t sure.

The warning bell suddenly rang and everyone started rushing to class. Bow and Glimmer grabbed Adora and raced toward their first class. Somehow, Glimmer had gotten her mom to transfer Adora into all of her classes. Her first period now was history with Mr. George, who she was informed was one of Bow’s dads.

Adora took a deep breath as she pulled her books out of her backpack and took a seat.

It was time to start the first day of her new high school career. She really hoped that she wouldn’t fuck it up.

…

After school, Adora raced to the staff parking lot. She hadn't had a chance to talk to Catra all day, now that they only had one class together. If she could beat her Coach Weaver’s car, maybe they could talk.

She casually leaned up against the Santa Fey as Catra came out of the gym building. She walked towards the car with her head down. She didn’t seem to notice Catra.

“Hey, Catra!” Adora called, waving. Catra’s head snapped up and Adora watched anger fill her eyes.

“Go away, Adora. I already told you, we’re over. As long as you’re still hanging out with Sparkles and her little boyfriend, we’re done.”

Sparkles was a nickname Catra regularly used when referring to Glimmer. Many kids in school who didn’t like her would call her variations of the name Glimmer such as Sparkles, Shimmer, Glitter, and Adora had even heard someone call her Shine once. It pissed Glimmer off, so Catra used that or her real name, Elizabeth, at any given opportunity. 

“Catra, we need to talk. I know I made you angry yesterday, and I’m sorry.” Catra glared at her.

“What’s there to talk about? You left me,” Catra said stubbornly. Adora’s dropped her smile.

“Come on, Catra. Don’t be like that. I just, why can’t we all be friends? I know they did bad things to you, but you won’t even give them a chance.” She watched Catra’s eyes well up with tears.

“You don’t understand, Adora. I’m better off alone than having to hide who I actually am to please some preppy assholes you decided are better than me. Now leave before Coach Weaver gets here. She’s still mad about you stealing her car.” Catra stared at the ground. Adora crossed her arms over her chest.

“Okay, fine. Have it your way. But don’t say I abandoned you when all I ever did was make some new friends.” Adora turned and walked off, gripping onto the straps of her backpack. 

She clenched her eyes shut and felt tears escaping anyway.


	4. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CW/ Harassment is a prevalent theme in this chapter, as well as hints at parental abuse.

It was Thursday and Adora was heading to her fourth period English class with Mrs. Bella. She was alone after Glimmer had run off and said she had to do something important and would meet her in class. Adora could only imagine what it was Glimmer was up to.

Adora spotted Mara a few feet ahead of her. She picked up her pace to go talk to her but didn’t get the chance as a boy came up behind her and grabbed the older girl’s waist. 

At first, Adora thought that he might be her boyfriend or something, but realized he was very far from that when Mara swiftly kicked his ankle, getting him to drop her.

“Oh come on, mama, you know you wanna taste,” he said, licking his lips.

“No, you want a taste and you’re not about to get one,” Mara responded, shoving him away from her. He looked angry as he was slammed into a locker. Kids around them gasped and one pulled out his phone, ready to record a fight.

No fight came though as Mara took that as her cue to leave, getting as far away from him as she could and running to the shelter of her next class. Adora watched from afar, knowing that she would have done the same. She didn’t realize that she had stopped walking until she felt a tap on her shoulder.

“Adora? Earth to Adora?” Glimmer was waving her hand in front of Adora’s face, snapping her out of her trance.

Adora started back to herself.

“What?”

“Come on, we gotta get to class. You’re just standing there like an idiot,” Glimmer said, grabbing Adora’s wrist and pulling her along. “What are you thinking about anyway?”

“How can people just be so… gross?!” Adora exclaimed. Glimmer looked at her like she was crazy.

“People make out in the hallways, this is high school. You’re gonna have to get used to that.”

“No! Not that! Some guy came up and started harassing Mara! He grabbed her and said the grossest thing!” Glimmer looked at her with wide eyes.

“She’s pretty, but not that pretty. The guy must have been desperate.” Adora glared at Glimmer.

“Okay, we’re gonna unpack  _ that  _ later. After class.” They had arrived at Mrs. Bella’s classroom and rushed inside before the tardy bell rang, taking their seats moments before the sound went off.

…

Catra was not having a good day. 

Ever since Adora had ditched her for some preppy assholes, things had been a lot worse it seemed. Shadow Bitch was harder on her, her teachers treated her like an idiot, and she was always alone.

She was sitting in her mother’s class. As a coach, she was also forced to teach a class. So Catra had her every day for Health and Safety.

When it was announced that they would have to pair up from a project, Catra wanted to get up and walk out of the room. Normally, this wouldn’t have been a problem. She would just work with Adora.

But Adora was gone. She had been moved out of all her classes. She only had sixth-period Geometry with her now, and they weren’t talking, meaning that Catra was all alone. She didn’t really know anybody in the class. If Lonnie or Kyle or even Roger had been there she might have just gone to them, but they weren’t in this period. So after everybody had paired off, only Catra and one other girl were left. Catra groaned internally.

“Katherine, Sunny, you two will work together as it seems neither of you has a partner.” Coach Weaver instructed. Sunny seemed very excited by this prospect as she moved to sit beside Catra.

The first thing Catra noticed about her was her hands. Or rather her lack of hands. She could only assume that she had been involved in some type of accident, and now her hands had been replaced with pincher-like devices.    
Sunny waved happily at Catra.

“Hi! I’m Sunny. You must be Katherine!” Catra quietly snarled.

“Call me that again and you’re dead. It’s Catra.”

“Okay…” Sunny said, quieter now. Catra carefully pried open the ass-old Chromebook in front of her to start working on their project. 

It was silent for a few minutes between them while she logged on. Then, Sunny began talking again.

“Did you know that scorpions can glow under ultraviolet light? They also can live as long as 25 years in captivity. Those two facts are unrelated, but really show the impressive nature of scorpions as a species.” 

Catra looked at her from the corner of her eye without moving her head.

“What are you, like a scorpion fanatic or something?”

Sunny thought for a moment. “I guess you could say that. I just find them so interesting!”

Catra snorted. “All right Scorpio.”

Sunny didn’t say anything after that, clearly thinking.

“You know what? That sounds like an awesome name! From now on I will be known as Scorpia, the wielder of pincers and endless scorpion facts!” She stood up as she said this, making sure that she was loud enough for the whole class to hear. Most kids looked at her like she was insane. A few laughed. Coach Weaver looked at her skeptically. 

“Alright, now do your work.” She motioned for Scorpia to sit back down. She obeyed quickly. Catra, meanwhile, slammed her head down into her Chromebook. 

“Oh, one other thing, class! These will be your partners for every project we do in this class for the rest of the year!” Coach Weaver informed them.

Catra groaned.

This was gonna be a long year.

…

Adora couldn’t stop thinking about Mara and that boy. She didn’t deserve that! She was just minding her own business. Adora wished that there was something she could do to help. Nobody should have to deal with that.

She laid in bed that night, mind racing rapidly. She could hear Adam playing video games next door, despite the fact that it was almost midnight. She rolled her eyes.

Catra would know what to do. Help her set her mind straight. She went to reach for her phone.

As her hand touched it on her nightstand she remembered her and Catra’s fight. Catra had probably already blocked her number. She sighed, bringing her hand back to herself.

She wondered what Catra was doing right then.

She wondered if Catra had gotten into another fight with Coach Weaver. If she was safe or not. If she was regretting their fight as much as Adora was.

God, she hoped so.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For anyone wondering, Scorpia's pinchers look something like this:  
> https://bastart13.tumblr.com/post/184534229480/aka-the-designated-drivers-anyone-else-loving


	5. Chapter 4

Adora arrived at Etheria High on Friday with a plan. She climbed out of the passenger seat of her and Adam’s car.

“Here, I got practice after school,” Adam said, tossing her the keys from across the top of the car. Adora caught them and slid them into the water bottle pocket of her bag. She headed into the school building, making a beeline for Bow and Glimmer, who were hanging out around Glimmer’s locker.

“Hey, Adora!” Bow waved, and Adora felt a pang in her chest. That was Catra’s favorite greeting for her. She pushed the thought out of her head. She had more important things to worry about.

“Hey, guys!” She waved back.

“You left early yesterday,” Glimmer observed. Adora nodded.

“Yeah, I had a lot on my mind.” Adora leaned up against a nearby locker.

“Are you still on that Mara thing?” Glimmer asked as she took a book out of her locker. Adora glared at the back of her head.

“It’s a serious issue! Nobody should be treated like that,” she defended. Bow looked between the two of them, confused.

“Wait, what happened to Mara?” 

“Some guy in the hallway tried to hit on her and Adora’s freaking out for no reason.” Glimmer filled in.

Adora shook her head.

“He grabbed her!”

Glimmer groaned.

“Will you drop it? If Mara wanted your help she would ask.”

“I dunno Glimmer. This sounds serious,” Bow said.

Suddenly, a girl a few lockers down from them spoke.

“I swear to god if you talk to me or try to touch me I will slam this locker on your face.”

All three heads swiveled towards her. A blue-haired girl with caramel-colored skin and pretty brown eyes was standing at her locker and a boy who almost looked like a senior was standing next to her looking like a kicked puppy. She looked annoyed and angry at him. The trio watched the girl kick the inside of her locker, presumably trying to shove something deeper inside of it.

Slowly, he backed away as she slammed her locker and went on her way.

“Are you coming?” she asked, turning her head to look at him.

“Yes!” the boy replied, following her towards the library.

“See! Tons of girls are getting harassed constantly!” Adora argued.

“That’s just Sea Hawk and Misty. They’re always like that.” Glimmer dismissively waved her hand.

“It doesn’t look like it.”

“I’m about 95% sure that they’re dating. If she had a real problem with him she wouldn’t be making out with him behind the cafeteria after school every day.”   
Bow lightly elbowed her.

“Glimmer, don’t talk about people like that.”   
Glimmer pushed his hand off of her.

“It’s just the facts.” She rolled her eyes.

Adora huffed, then changed the subject. “Anyway, here’s my plan. I say that we gather up a bunch of girls in school. You, me, Mara, Perfuma, that girl you were just talking about-”

“Misty.” Glimmer cut in.

“-Misty. And we form some type of club. Like a group that we can use to protect ourselves, fend off the creeps of Etheria High. It’s better than it sounds.” 

Glimmer and Bow seemed to ponder this idea for a minute.

“Could I join?” Bow asked. Adora laughed.

“You could be an honorary member.” At that Bow clapped.

“I guess it sounds cool. Make some new friends. You can’t bring any of those Fright Zone kids into it though.” Glimmer crossed her arms over her chest.

Adora was confused. “Fright Zone kids? What’s that?” Glimmer rolled her eyes.

“The Fright Zone is a nickname for the neighborhood at the very edge of town. It’s super run down and where all the poor kids live.” 

Adora frowned. She knew that neighborhood well. It was where Catra lived. She had played with plenty of the kids on the block before.

“I wonder if the sparkly one knows how loud she is.” They heard a voice say from above them. Their heads shot up to the vents. Glimmer growled.

“Bow, lift me up,” she instructed. Bow obeyed, lifting her up to the vent on his shoulders. She pulled the grate off. “Bambi! Get out of the vents and stop spying on people!”

Bambi looked at her for a moment before speaking into her recorder again. “The sparkly one is now talking directly to me. She called me Bambi. I hate that.”   
Glimmer grabbed Bambi’s arms, pulling her down out of the vent. Adora watched as Bow carefully made sure both girls were back on the floor safely before he reached up to replace the vent grate.

Bambi looked at Adora and the blonde almost had a mini heart attack before realizing that she was probably just wearing red contacts. Bambi was a short girl who styled her dyed-purple hair in two long pigtails. She wore purple overalls and was holding a silver recorder.

“You know that I go by Entrapta,” she said, hurt in her eyes as she looked between the three before walking off, talking into her recorder about her interruption.

The bell then rang, signaling that they had five minutes to get to first period.

“Come on, we’re gonna be late!” Bow grabbed Glimmer and Adora’s arms as he pulled them to History.

…

History was quickly becoming Adora’s favorite class. Mr. George was a super fun teacher, she had the class with Bow and Glimmer, and the material was just challenging enough to keep her on her toes but not so much so that it overwhelmed her.

One other thing she discovered about History on that Friday was Sea Hawk.

At first, she thought nothing of him. He had just raised his hand to answer a question. Adora hadn’t really been paying attention to the answer, instead, she was doodling in her notebook. When she looked down she realized that she had scribbled a cat in the corner of the page without thinking. She blushed, setting her pencil down and turning to focus on the person speaking.

“So if you think about it, the growth of the U.S’s railroad system throughout the years is a lot like a fire. It grows and grows steadily until it’s extigushed. The railroads of the United States used to be a primary form of transportation from place to place, but now they’re mostly used for moving goods. Nobody cares much about them anymore, and they become an inconvenience when a train runs while you’re trying to drive to work. A fire is pretty at first, it burns bright and passionate, but someday, someone will put it out, and the ash and burn marks will become an eyesore.”

Everyone around him looked at him like he was crazy. He was smiling wide and Mr. George looked impressed.

“That is… a very interesting comparison, Ahab…” He turned back to the SmartBoard, reading over his notes.

“Sea Hawk,” The boy corrected. Mr. George nodded.

“Yes, Sea Hawk, sorry.”

Glimmer leaned over to whisper to Adora.

“What the hell was that?!”

Adora looked at her, whispering back.

“I-I have no idea.”

Adora tried to focus on Mr. George for the rest of the class. She told herself that it was just because of Sea Hawk’s strange answer, but when she glanced down at the cat drawing on her page, she knew deep down what the real reason was.

…

Catra slid her earbuds in as she walked along the bleachers, a trash bag in one hand and sliding her phone into her pocket with the other. The screen was cracked and the case was stained but it still worked, so she pressed on.

She hated Fridays.

Fridays meant extra long soccer practice. And extra long soccer practice meant more trash for Catra to pick up.

Snack wrappers mostly, but sometimes there would be gum she would have to scrape up. Occasionally, she would find some loose change or even a dollar bill she would get to pocket, but all around, doing her mother’s dirty work was the worst part of her day.

She felt tears starting to brim her eyes when she realized what playlist she had absentmindedly put on.

After her and Adora’s fight, she had run home and made a playlist full of all the songs that reminded her of betrayal and hurt. Music helped her clear her head, but not when she was at school, minutes before sunset, trying to pick up trash on the bleachers.

The song playing was The Story of Us by Taylor Swift. It was sad and angry and described her thoughts about Adora perfectly. She moved a hand to wipe at her eyes when she felt a tap on her shoulder.

She spun around angrily, her left earbud falling out of her ear.

“What?!” She growled before she even saw who was standing there.

“Okay, jeez, you’re not in the mood.” Scorpia took a few steps back. Catra sighed.

“What do you want? Can’t you see I’m busy here?” She realized that it was Scorpia and not Coach Weaver, but she didn’t like to be interrupted when she was having a moment.

“I was just coming to check on you. You weren’t answering your phone.” Scorpia held up her phone. Catra had given her her number in case she had any questions about the health assignment. Not so she could check in on her.

“Well, I’m fine. I just have to pick up all this trash for Shadow Bitch and then I can get out of here,” she gestured around her at the trash littering the bleachers.

“Oh,” Scorpia said. Catra rolled her eyes.

“You’re not going away until I’m done, are you?”

Scorpia shook her head.

“Not happening, wildcat.” Catra glared at her at the nickname but didn’t comment on it. Instead, she turned back to the task at hand.

She walked in silence as she picked up the trash. After a few minutes, Catra found herself starting to talk.

“It’s fucked up, you know? How a person you thought knew you better than anyone can just turn around and leave you for the people they know hurt you at the drop of a hat, just because they’re cooler than you. You thought that they would always be by your side, and then they just leave, straight up, when they know that you’re hurting.” She heard Scorpia sniffle. “Why are you crying?!” She turned to Scorpia.

“You’re just telling my whole life story right now,” she said, misty-eyed. Catra groaned.

“I think that’s it. At least, that’s all I’m picking up.” She tied the bag and tossed it down the bleachers, aiming lazily for the larger trash can. She missed. “Let’s get out of here. I wanna punch something.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, Catra is a Swiftie because I've decided that she's my self-insert.
> 
> Question: what do you guys think is the best time to post these? Around midnight like this chapter, or more around noon? Or maybe even around 5 or 6 in the evening?


	6. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's chapter 5. Longest chapter yet! Remember to leave a comment, they make me really happy!  
> Chapters 6 and 7 are already written, and I plan to stay a week ahead of schedule from here out, so chapters may come out a little earlier most Wednesdays.

Adora woke up on Saturday morning with a weight on her feet. She sleepily rubbed her eyes as she tried to figure out what it was. She looked towards the foot of her bed.

Her rescue puppy, Swift Wind, was laying on her legs, sleeping peacefully. She smiled, sitting up and reaching down to pet his head.

“Morning, Swifty,” she said as he woke up. He happily jumped up and licked her face. She laughed and gently pushed him away. “Come on boy, we got work to do today.”

Adora climbed out of bed and moved to her closet to get dressed. She slid on a white tank top and a pair of ripped jean shorts, then tossed her favorite red leather jacket around her shoulders.

As she tied her black converse, Swift Wind sat in front of her, eagerly awaiting for her to go downstairs and feed him his breakfast.

The two left her bedroom together, Ador stopping by her bathroom to brush her hair and teeth, pulling her blonde locks up into her signature ponytail.

She gave Swift Wind his breakfast, watching him happily eat his kibble while she made pancakes. Soon, Adam descended the stairs.

“Where’s mom and dad?” He asked.

“I dunno.” Adora licked some batter off her finger as she poured it into the pan.

Adam slid down into a seat at the table, petting Swifty’s head as he came over to him.

Adora served them breakfast soon enough, the twins eating in silence.

“How was your week?” Adam asked. Adora shrugged.

“Horrible. Good. The worst week of my life.” Adam looked at her confused.

“How was it good and horrible?”

Adora sighed. “Catra and I got into a fight on Tuesday. I tried to talk to her on Wednesday but she's decided we aren't friends anymore. I’m hanging out with Glimmer and Bow now, but Glimmer keeps saying weird shit that makes me think I don’t wanna hang around her.” Adora took another bite of her food.

“Like what? I always thought she was nice.”

“Ugh. She’s like, super classist. She talks about the poor neighborhoods on the outskirts of town like the kids who live there have the plague. And she acts like people getting harassed isn’t a big deal.” Adora waved her fork absentmindedly.

“Have you tried, oh I don’t know, talking to her about it?” Adam asked. Adora shook her head.

“I don’t want to overstay my welcome in their friend group.” Adam laughed.

“You’re an idiot, Adora.”

Adora sent him a smile.

“It’s what I do best.” She pushed back her chair, taking her plate to the sink and rinsing it off before putting it in the dishwasher. She grabbed Swift Wind’s leash from the shelf in the corner of the kitchen. 

“Imma take Swifty for a walk, then meet up with my friends. Please actually rinse off your plate when you’re done.” Adora popped a piece of gum into her mouth and clipped on Swift Wind’s leash. Adam nodded.

“Don’t worry, I will.” Adora sent him a pointed look.

“You said that last time and then didn’t.” Adora grabbed her bag and took Swift Wind out, making sure the door shut behind her.

She and Swift Wind took their usual walk through the neighborhood, enjoying the sunny day. She contemplated taking him to meet her friends.

Swift Wind made her decision for her when he suddenly ran up to Glimmer’s yard. She hadn’t realized that they lived so close together, and was kind of shocked when Glimmer walked out the front door as Adora was trying to wrangle Swift Wind back to the sidewalk.

“Adora! Hi!” Glimmer waved excitedly. Adora blushed and smiled. Suddenly, Swift Wind broke free of his leash, running towards Glimmer.

“Swifty no!” Adora lunged forward, trying to catch her dog by his collar. “Hey, Glimmer!” She greeted as the pink-haired girl caught him.

“Who’s this cute pooch?” Glimmer asked, kneeling down to pet the lab.

“That’s Swift Wind.” 

“You’re so cute, aren’t you? Aren’t you?!” Glimmer scratched Swift Wind behind his ears, the dog in question sticking out his tongue and panting happily. Glimmer stood up and led Swifty back over to Adora, where she clipped his leash back on. “Can he come with us today? Please?!” Glimmer begged. Adora smiled.

“I guess.”

The front door opened again, and Glimmer groaned.

“Glimmah! You forgot your wallet!” Her mother, Angela, stuck her head out. Angela was a tall woman, so much so that a lot of people would never guess that she was related to Glimmer. She also spoke with a British accent. Her hair was a light blonde and her eyes were blue. Adora waved as Glimmer trekked across the yard to grab her wallet from her mother.

“Thank you, mother.”

“Be careful, don’t get into too much trouble.” She pulled Glimmer into a hug and Glimmer tried to fight it, knowing that Adora was watching with heart eyes from the yard.

Angela walked back inside and Glimmer stomped over to Adora.

“Let’s go. We’ll get Bow on the way. Our first stop is Nancy, right?” Glimmer slid her wallet into her pocket.

“Yep!” And with that, the two girls started the walk to Bow’s place a few blocks away.

After picking up Bow, and after Bow had a cuteness attack from Swift Wind jumping on him, the trio made their way to Perfuma’s house, which was a cute little cottage near the woods right between Bright Moon and Plumeria, two suburbs of Etheria.

When they walked up to the cottage, Perfuma was sitting on the porch, doing homework.

“Hey, Perfuma!” Adora waved at her. Bow was walking Swift Wind, and the dog pulled him up to Perfuma.

“Hi, Adora! Oh hello there!” She giggled as Swift Wind jumped up and put his two front paws on her lap.

“Sorry, he’s a very friendly dog. He loves people.” Adora said as they walked up onto the porch.

“It’s okay. He’s just adorable!” Perfuma pet Swift Wind for a moment before closing her binder and turning towards Adora, Bow, and Glimmer. “So what brings you three out here?”

“We’re actually forming an alliance, of sorts. A group of people to band together and try to make the school a better place!” Glimmer said.

“And to make new friends!” Bow added. Perfuma beamed.

“That sounds amazing! How can I join!” Perfuma jumped up from her seat.

“Really? You’d want to!?” Adora asked.

“Of course! If I can do anything to make new friends and make our school a better place, I’d love to join your alliance.” Perfuma adjusted her flower crown.

“Great! Just meet us in the library on Monday before school,” Adora told her as she took the leash from Bow and pulled Swift Wind back to her.

“Would I guys like to come in for tea? I could take a break from homework anyway,” Perfuma asked.

“Sure!” Glimmer agreed and Bow and Adora nodded.

“Can Swifty come in?” Adora shook the leash gently to bring Swift Wind to her heel.

“Of course.” Perfuma nodded and led them inside. She found some dog biscuits to treat Swifty while she made tea.

The four sat around a little table in Perfuma’s kitchen, catching up while Swift Wind laid underneath the table, napping. He had a long morning of meeting new people, after all.

“So what wanted you to start this alliance, Adora?” Perfuma asked. Adora took a sip of her tea.

“Well, on Thursday I saw Mara getting harassed by some guy in the hallway. I just wanted to create something that could help minimize that, for everyone. I thought maybe if a group of people banded together, we could be sort of like a protection squad for other students, and help the school become a more comfortable place for everyone, if that makes sense. It sounded better in my head.” Adora nervously laughed.

“No, no, it makes perfect sense. I think anyone who truly has their heart set on it can make a difference. And I’m happy to be a part of that.”

Adora beamed. At least someone got her vision.

They left Perfuma’s house after finishing their tea, their next stop being Misty’s place in the Salineas suburb. 

…

Catra screamed into her pillow.

Adora was gone and never coming back to her, she realized.

She had just posted a picture of her, Elizabeth, Bow, and Nancy on her Instagram. They were all smiling. Swift Wind was in the background.

Catra let the tears fall down her face. She reached for her phone and threw it across the room. She screamed again.

She cried into her pillow. She eventually had nothing left to cry and climbed off of her bed. She picked up her phone. There was a small crack on the bottom corner from where she had thrown it.

She opened up her Instagram, scrolling through and deleting every last picture with her Adora, which was most of them.

When she was done, she dropped her phone to the floor and rolled over, pulling her blankets over her head and crying herself to sleep.

...

Adora tapped a few buttons on her phone.

“We’re walking out to Salineas?! It’s sooo far!” Glimmer complained.

“No, Sea Hawk is giving us a ride. I arranged it last night.” Adora held up her phone, showing her conversation with the boy in question.

“When the hell did you get Sea Hawk’s number?” Bow asked.

“I asked him for it after first period yesterday. All I had to do was compliment his mustache and he was like a puppy who hadn’t been pet in two months.” Adora giggled.

Soon, Sea Hawk pulled up in a car that had a few more scorch marks on it than Adora would have liked, but she got in anyway.

“Hey, Sparkles!” he said to Glimmer. Glimmer glared.

“It’s Glimmer,” she grumbled.

“So, you’re friends with Misty?” Bow asked.

“She prefers Mermista, you know. Don’t call her Misty, it’ll make her all moody for the rest of the day. Well, more than normal,” Sea Hawk said. “But yes, I like to think that we know each other very well.”

“Ooh, Mermista. That’s such a pretty name. How’d she get it?” Adora asked. Swift Wind barked as if he was asking too.

“Well, yours truly gave it to her! I was at one of her beloved swim meets, and watching her, she just looked like a mermaid! So, I came up with Mermista. She hated it at first, but she started introducing herself as that a few weeks later, and it just stuck.”

“That’s actually, adoraBLE.” Bow’s voice cracked as he spoke. 

They pulled into Mermista’s driveway. She lived in a beach house that had direct access to the west coast beach, but she also had a pool. Sea Hawk led them into the house.

“Mermista dearest?!” He called. The lights were all turned on, but there was no sign of the girl.

“Huh, where could she be?” Adora asked.

Sea Hawk looked around, eyes landing on the window that looked out over the pool area.

“Ah, she’s probably out back at the pool.” The five walked out to the pool, spotting Mermista lounging on a beach chair with a book.

She looked up at them, peering over the rim of her sunglasses.

“Ugh, why are you here? I told you I needed a Sea Hawk-free weekend.” She closed her book.

As Adora stepped out onto the deck, Swift Wind took off, pulling off his collar and racing towards the pool. He jumped in before anyone could react, splashing Mermista.

“Swift Wind!” Adora yelled, reaching a hand out for him but he was already gone from her side. “Stupid dog…”

Mermista held up her soaked book.

“Goddammit…” she muttered. She turned to the group.

“Now that you’ve contaminated my pool with dog fur,” she gestured to Swift Wind happily dog-paddling through the pool, “what do you want?” She crossed her arms over her chest.

“We actually were going to come and ask you to join our alliance. It’s, like a friends group of sorts, to band a bunch of different people together and try to make our school a better place!” Adora gave her pitch, fingers crossed that Mermista would agree. Mermista glared at her.

“Get your dog out of my pool and take Sea Hawk out of here and then gladly, I’ll join your alliance, or whatever.” Mermista rolled her eyes.

“Of course!” Glimmer ran to the edge of the pool, beckoning Swift Wind to her. She led him out of the water and watched as he shook off.

“You got any towels?” Bow asked, looking at the dripping puddle beneath the dog.

Mermista pointed at a shelf leaned up against the wall.

Once Swifty was dry the group was on their way again.

“That was so much easier than I thought it would be,” Adora marveled.

“Yeah, I think she just wanted us to get out of there before her dad gets home.” Sea Hawk said.

From Salineas, they walked to Dryl. Dryl was a darker suburb just a half-hour walk away. It wasn’t inhabited by many of their students and was generally a neighborhood populated by the elderly, but Adora wanted to get one person from each suburb, at least. You know, for diversity. 

There was one student there Adora was extremely curious about. The purple-haired girl who had rolled out of the vent the day before was someone she hadn’t seen before. 

“So, Entrapta she said her name was? What year is she?” Adora asked Bow.

“You’re trying to recruit someone and you don't even know what year they're in?” Glimmer chimed in.

Adora rolled her eyes.

“She’s a junior,” Bow said.

“I guess that’s why I don’t know her.” They were coming up on her house. Glimmer had used her mom’s privileges to do some digging, more or less. She wasn’t sure if it was legal, but she had found Entrapta’s address buried in some student records.

The house could be more easily described as a mansion, large and dark and towering over a lot of the other more quaint houses on the street. Fit for a mad scientist, Adora guessed.

They walked up to the door and Adora raised her fist to knock. As she did, Swift Wind began to bark like crazy. 

“Shush!” She tried to quieten the dog but to no avail. If anything he just got louder.

Suddenly the door swung open. Entrapta was standing there, her smiling vanishing when she saw who was standing there.

“Hi, Entrapta!” Bow and Adora said at the same time. The girl perked up.

“You-you remembered my name.”

Adora smiled. “Of course we did!”

“What are you guys doing here? Shouldn’t you be doing something useful with your time? Not here, with me?” Entrapta asked.

“We actually wanted to ask you to join our alliance,” Bow said. Entrapta raised a curious eyebrow. “We’re gathering a bunch of different people from all over school to form like an ‘Ultimate Friend Group’. You know, meet new people, make new friends, and to help our school become a better place. We could really use someone as cool as you, Entrapta.”

Entrapta’s eyes lit up.

“You want _me_ to be your friend? Me?” She pointed at herself. Glimmer nodded.

“Look, it was mean of me, what I did yesterday. We think you’re really cool, how you’re wicked smart and never let people hold you down.” Entrapta slowly started to smile.

“I’m not very good at people, but I’d love to be your friend! Oh! Puppy!” Entrapta finally noticed Swift Wind, who had gone quiet once she opened the door.

She dove down to her knees, wrapping her arms around the dog and hugging him fiercely. Swift Wind wagged his tail happily. Adora giggled.

“That’s Swift Wind. He insisted on coming with us this morning.”

“Oh, jeez, is it already noon?” Entrapta looked up to the sky. “I get so lost in my work and it’s so dark in this damn house I always lose track of time.” Entrapta laughed to herself. “Wanna come in for lunch? My cooks will be happy to make us something!” She asked, standing up after giving Swift Wind one final pat to his head.

Bow, Glimmer, and Adora exchanged a look.

“Sure!” Bow said. Entrapta beamed. 

“Come on in then!” She led them into the house, shutting the door behind them. It was almost pitch black in the corridor. “Sorry, I know there’s a light switch somewhere…” Entrapta hummed as she felt along the wall for a switch. “Aha!” She flipped on the lights.

Entrapta led them to the kitchen, informing her three cooks that she had guests, and a dog was present.

Entrapta took them to her bedroom, which was littered with what looked like mechanical parts and tools.

“Sorry for the mess. Normally I work in my workshop, but last night I got an idea at like three AM I just had to work on,” she explained as she picked up the bigger mess and deposited it on her desk.

“It’s okay,” Adora told her as she settled down onto a clear spot on the rug, Swift Wind laying his head in her lap. Bow sat in Entrapta’s desk chair, and Glimmer and Entrapta sat on her bed.

They talked for a little bit about school, mostly asking Entrapta about herself. They learned a lot about her, like how she had her own little lab on the second-floor in the janitor's closet at school and used the vents to get to class quicker. Before they knew it, a maid was calling them to dinner.

They sat down around the dining table. Swift Wind was given a lunch of cut apples in a bowl on the floor. The chefs had made them BLT sandwiches, and Adora noticed that Entrapta’s was actually six tiny little sandwiches on tiny little bread.

“Tiny food, huh?” Bow asked her.

“Yeah! It’s sooo cute!” Entrapta held up one of her little sandwiches. “But I figured you guys would prefer regular, big ones.”

Glimmer laughed.

“They are pretty cute.” Entrapta smiled. Adora found it contagious, smiling with her.

Maybe her week wasn’t quite so bad after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really wish that I got more comments on this story. I'm working really hard on it and it's not doing nearly as well as I thought it would.


	7. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CW/ References to child abuse

Adora’s sixth period was geometry with Mrs. Nessa. It was also geometry with Catra.

Catra sat directly behind her. She never said much in class, instead she doodled in a notebook and made it look like she was taking notes. The math stuff had always seemed to come easily to Catra, unlike Adora. 

Sixth period always went quickly. Mrs. Nessa was a good teacher who never gave too much homework and always made sure that she gave them a little bit of time to do work for other classes at the end of her class.

When Mrs. Nessa said that she had to run out of the room for a moment and that they could talk amongst themselves while she was gone, Adora got an idea.

Glimmer had said the day before that they should have a movie night. All the girls of the Princess Alliance, plus Bow Sea Hawk and anybody else Adora wanted to invite. The Princess Alliance had been a name Mermista came up with offhandedly, and everyone agreed that they liked it. What else would you call a group of pretty girls from every different corner of the city?

They were having the get-together that night at her house, and Adora oh-so badly wanted to repair her and Catra’s relationship. She knew that Catra said she didn’t want her anymore, but Adora still did. And she was going to do what she could to get her back.

“Catra?” she asked, turning around in her seat. Catra was reading a book, but she couldn’t see the cover.

She didn’t even glance up.

“Catra, come on, I’m sorry.” Catra looked up now, and Adora recognized a familiar fire in her eyes. It had never been targeted at her before though.

“Sorry doesn’t fix it. Sorry doesn’t fix you leaving me,” Catra quietly growled.

“I know. I know it doesn’t. But I gave you a chance to come back, and you were stubborn like you always are. But I’m still sorry and I miss you, so I’m giving you another one. I wanted to ask you something.” Adora reached a hand out and laid it on Catra’s desk. Catra looked between Adora and her hand.

“What is it? Can’t you see I’m busy?”

“Do you wanna come to movie night with everyone tonight? We’re watching  _ Booksmart _ and  _ Clue _ , I think. There’ll be snacks and drinks, you know, the works.” Adora put on her puppy dog eyes. Maybe if Catra would agree to this, they could work on fixing their relationship. 

Catra glared. “And who would ‘everyone’ be?”

“The Princess Alliance, plus Bow and Sea Hawk and Mara.” Mara had turned down their offer to join their little group, as she was usually really busy with soccer and her tutoring plus her own life stuff, but Adora still liked to invite her to their events, and she had agreed to come to this one.

“If I agree will you leave me alone?” Catra asked.

“If you want me to,” Adora responded.

“Fine. I’ll go.” 

Adora silently congratulated herself. Phase one completed.

“My place at seven. Do you need a ride?” Catra shook her head.

“I’ll walk.”

Adora frowned at that. “You sure? I can come pick you up, or Adam can after basketball.” 

“I’ve walked to your house a thousand times. It’s fine,” Catra mumbled.

Adora nodded solemnly, turning back around.

It was fine. This was good. She would get through to Catra. 

She had to promise herself that much.

…

Adora was arranging bowls of snacks when there was a knock at the door. It was 6:50 and so far only Glimmer, Bow, and Mara had arrived. Apparently, Sea Hawk and Mermista had gotten pulled over for speeding, go figure, so they were going to be late.

Adora ran to get the door, pulling it open to reveal Entrapta.

“Hi, Adora!” Adora smiled.

“Come on in, Entrapta!” She opened the door wider for her and the smaller girl came in, making a beeline for Bow. Adora noticed that she was holding some sort of small device, assuming that she wanted to show him whatever it was she had built. Out of everyone, Bow was always the most interested in Entrapta’s inventions.

Adora went to shut the door but then noticed the figure walking up the sidewalk. She could recognize Catra’s messy dark locks anywhere. She slid out onto the porch to wait for her.

Catra meanwhile was considering whether or not she should just bail. She didn’t want to be here, with all the preppy kids and Adora, but Shadow Bitch had been really harsh on her lately. Ever since Adora stopped coming around to hang out. She always thought that she liked Adora more than Catra, but now she knew.

She looked up and spotted Adora leaning on the porch.

Shit, well, no turning back now.

“Hey, Adora,” she greeted, signature sultry tone making a light blush appear on the blonde’s face.

“Hey, Catra.” Adora was smiling, and for a second, Catra almost felt like they had gone back in time, like the fight had never happened.

Adora then noticed something on Catra’s face. She reached a hand out and lightly held her chin, brushing her thumb over Catra’s cheek.

“Catra? What happened?” There was a dark bruise on Catra’s left cheek and Adora’s eyebrows furrowed.

“Oh, that? It’s nothing,” Catra grabbed Adora’s wrist and pushed her hand down. She pulled the hood of her hoodie around her face more. Despite the California weather, she always seemed to be wearing a hoodie most days.

Adora frowned.

“You’d let me know if you weren’t safe, right?” Adora moved her hand to Catra’s shoulder. Catra hesitantly nodded.

“Yeah, I guess.”

“I still care about you, Catra. Even if we aren’t friends, I don’t want you to be in danger.”   
Catra nodded.

“I’m okay. I just fell, that’s all.”

Adora waited a moment, searching Catra’s eyes for something,  _ anything. _ She didn’t know what it was. A part of her felt like this relationship was unrepairable if Catra was this willing to lie to her face. Your cheek just isn’t a place where you get a bruise from tripping and falling.

“Okay.”

Together, they entered the house. They went their separate ways once inside, Catra deciding that she was better off hiding among the shadows.

Perfuma arrived a few minutes later, followed by Mermista and Sea Hawk after what felt like almost half an hour.

Adam descended the stairs just as Adora was placing out the popcorn she had made.

“You got cheesy popcorn? Sweet!” Adam snatched a handful of the popcorn out of the bowl.

“Adam! Stop stealing our food! You already ate half the pretzels yesterday when I told you they were for movie night.” Adam rolled his eyes.

“Chill out sis, it’s just a handful.” He then returned to his room upstairs. Adora glared at his back as he went.

“Ugh, ignore him. What do you guys wanna watch first?” She held up a stack of movies,  _ Booksmart _ and  _ Clue _ among them. Catra didn’t really get the selection, they weren’t very cohesive, but she knew that most of them were Adora’s favorite movies, so that was probably why. 

When  _ Booksmart _ had come out that May, Catra had watched it twelve times in a row over one weekend. Adora had seen in it a few times, but didn’t really get why Catra liked it so much. It was funny, sure, but it didn’t seem like the type of movie Catra would be into. It was really sapphic, after all. Anyway, she put it in the pile, knowing that it was Catra’s favorite.

They all settled into the Graykull’s large living room to watch the first movie,  _ Blockers. _

Nobody seemed bothered by Catra’s presence. Glimmer shot her a few rude looks, but she ignored them. When they sat down to watch the movie, Adora sat on the couch and Catra cautiously sat down at her feet. Adora was holding a bowl of popcorn and she would occasionally pass her some. About halfway into the movie, Adora started playing with Catra’s hair. Catra didn’t think that she even realized she was doing it, but Catra would be lying if she said it didn’t feel nice. 

Lucky for her she wasn’t afraid of lying.

The next movie they watched was  _ Clue _ . Mermista appeared to be very into it for a girl that usually didn’t care about anything. Adora could only imagine why.

By the time they put in  _ Booksmart _ , Entrapta was dozing on the rug and Glimmer was leaned against Bow, fast asleep.

Adora looked down at Catra. She was actively leaning up against her, her head resting back onto her knees. Adora reached down and passed her a handful of Skittles. She slid them into her mouth, then realized that Adora had moved her feet so that both were to Catra’s left side. She grinned, glancing up to make sure Adora was focused on the movie before reaching down and tying her shoelaces together.

Mermista had fallen asleep during the last movie and was laying with her head in Sea Hawk’s lap. It was kinda adorable, Catra noted.

When everyone got up, Catra made sure that she was at the doorway before Adora stood. She hid her face in her hoodie and watched as Adora tried to take a step and promptly fell over flat on her face.

“Owww.” She looked down at her feet and realized that her shoelaces were tied together. She blushed, then glanced up at Catra and glared. Catra just smiled before darting out the front door without so much as a goodbye.

Adora fixed her shoelaces and put away all the unfinished snacks, saying goodbye to everyone as they left. Sea Hawk carried Mermista out first after Catra left, not having the heart to wake her up. Perfuma caught a ride with Bow and Glimmer and Swift Wind made sure to give Entrapta a very happy goodbye before she left. Mara was the last to leave, thanking Adora for the good time before walking home, as she lived just down the street.

Adora wished that Catra wasn’t so stubborn. All of this was ridiculous. Adora sighed, not wanting to admit what she knew was true. She might never be able to repair her relationship with Catra.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Today on "Sophmore year kicks everyone's asses but not for the reasons you think it would", Adora is the idiot who doesn't understand why Catra likes Booksmart so much.
> 
> please leave a comment, please. I beg you. This story is flopping so bad.


	8. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CW/ References to child abuse in a dream sequence.

“Woo-hoo! Spa day!!”

Glimmer jumped out of her car, running to the trunk to grab their bags. Adora laughed as she climbed out of the passenger’s side. Bow crawled out of the back seat and helped her get their bags, then Adora held the front door open to the retreat for them as they entered.

Glimmer’s Aunt Casta owned a spa retreat in Mystacor, a town about two hours away from Etheria. Glimmer had decided that for their three-day Labor Day weekend, the Best Friend Squad needed rest and relaxation. 

Casta came out to greet them as they entered.

“Elizabeth! It’s so good to see you!” Casta pulled Glimmer into a hug.

“It’s Glimmer, Aunt Casta,” Glimmer grumbled. 

“Yes, yes, Glimmer,” Casta said dismissively. She looked Glimmer up and down. “Did you change your hair?” Glimmer rolled her eyes.

“Yes, I cut it.”

Well, now Adora wanted to know what Glimmer looked like with long hair. She couldn’t remember a time when she ever had long hair in school.

“You must be Adora!” Casta turned to Adora. Adora nodded almost shyly. “It’s so good to see Glimmer making new friends.”

“Well, I’m happy to be around.”

“Let me help you with your bags!” Casta helped them take their bags to the suite part of the retreat. 

Adora and Glimmer were moving their clothes from suitcases into the dresser drawers. 

“This is going to be great. Just a nice relaxing weekend with my best friends!” Glimmer exclaimed. Adora nodded.

“It’ll be nice to get some relaxation. Although, I’ve never been very good at that,” Adora admitted. Glimmer laughed.

“You’re gonna love it. First stop, the hot springs!” Glimmer grabbed Adora’s arm and pulled her out of the bedroom, pulling her away and out of the room.

…

They met up with Bow after changing into swimsuit-like clothes by the hot springs. The room was furnished with flowers and was filled with an overwhelming scent of lavender. Adora thought that Perfuma would love it.

They relaxed in the pools for what felt like hours. The hot water felt amazing on Adora’s overworked muscles from soccer. She laid her head back against one of the rocks and fell asleep to the soft sound of the water pouring down around the room.

_“Adora, please?” Catra begged. Adora’s heart ached for her._

_“Catra, I can’t.” Adora pulled her hand away from Adora. Her subconscious yelled at her, but she still did it._

_“I don’t wanna fight.” Catra was crying, and Adora nodded._

_“I don’t either, but things can’t go back to how they were. I’ve moved on.” Adora turned away from her ex-best friend._

_Catra screamed, and Adora spun back around. Coach Weaver had appeared and had a hand around Catra’s neck. A hand rested on her cheek._

_“Now, now child. I don’t need you corrupting sweet Adora. Leave her alone at once.” Coach Weaver dragged Catra away, a hand over her mouth as she screamed._

_Adora lunged for her but she had been dragged off into the abyss before she could grab her._

Adora startled awake, the lingering memories of her dream sticking to her like dirt. She took a deep breath, inhaling the essential oils the fille dhte air of the hot springs. She looked around for Glimmer and Bow.

“Hey, she’s awake.” Adora turned around and found Glimmer standing there, back in her regular clothes. She was holding a towel.

“You looked so peaceful, we didn’t wanna wake you up,” Bow said. Adora smiled and climbed out of the pool, taking the towel Glimmer offered her and quickly drying off.

Once she was dry and back in her day clothes, it was time for dinner. Bow and Glimmer led her to the cafeteria of the retreat, where Aunt Casta had prepared them a luxurious dinner.

It consisted of more food than Adora had ever seen before. Steak, mashed potatoes, bread, and a variety of different vegetables made up the main course. For dessert, she had made two different cheesecakes, one strawberry and one vanilla, two batches of colorfully decorated cupcakes, and fruit platters.

Adora couldn’t remember a time she had eaten so well. It was a few more carbs than she would usually go for, but she was on vacation, she could indulge a little.

After dinner, they returned to their rooms. 

Glimmer collapsed onto her bed immediately, groaning.

“I think I’m going to die from cardiac arrest,” she mumbled.

“I don’t think that’s what you think it is.” Adora laughed.

“Sugar crash then,” Glimmer argued.

“Sure. You did consume half a batch of cupcakes and three pieces of cheesecake.” Adora sat down on her bed, taking off her boots and pulling down her hair.

“Somebody had to! It’s gonna go bad!” Adora looked over her shoulder at her friend.

“We’re gonna be here for three days, Glimmer. You didn’t need to eat it all at once.” Glimmer huffed.

“Stop using your brain. It’s late.” Glimmer rolled onto her back and threw her arm over her eyes.

Adora opened her mouth to point out that it was only seven pm, then giggled to herself. “Alright. Wanna watch TV?” Adora shrugged off her jacket and tossed it onto a chair a few feet from her bed. She picked up the remote.

“Yes please.” Adora turned on the television and crawled under the covers. They scrolled through Netflix for a while before finding some cooking show that they could watch and judge the contestants as if they could do better.

Adora had forgotten about her dream until she was falling asleep that night when it came back to her.

The part of her brain that wanted to believe everyone told her that Catra was okay and that she would ask for help if she wasn’t, but the part of her that knew Catra better than anyone couldn’t help but wonder if her dreams were more prophecies than figments of her imagination.


	9. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CW/ Classism and ableism.  
> Oh boy. The Glimmer stans aren’t gonna like this one.

“Homecoming night!” Glimmer jumped off her bed dramatically, landing on the plush carpet in a fit of giggles.

“You guys go to Homecoming?” Adora asked as she opened the door to the bedroom and entered. Glimmer gasped.

“Do you NOT?! It’s only the biggest dance for a sophomore all year!”

Adora shook her head.

“I’ve never been to any dance. Last year, Catra and I would just spend the night at my house, making fun of everyone's Snapchat stories and eating as much junk food as we could find…” Adora trailed off at the memory of Catra. She had been trying to move on since their movie night. Obviously, Catra wasn’t going to come back to her. But it was hard when everyone and everything reminded her of her ex-best friend.

Glimmer and Bow just looked at her with sad expressions on their faces before Glimmer’s lit up.

“That means that we get to give you your first makeover!”

Adora raised an eyebrow. “Can I not just wear this?” She gestured to her ripped skinny jeans and favorite red jacket. Glimmer shook her head.

“Everyone knows that the game is prime time to get ready for the dance! You have to wear something amazing if you skip the game!” Glimmer grabbed Adora’s shoulder and began to push her towards the closet.

“You guys don’t go to the game?” Adora asked. Bow shook his head.

“Nope. Glimmer takes forever to get ready.” He laughed and Glimmer shot him a look.

“Well, it’s worth it when we show up wearing the best matching outfits Etheria High has ever seen!”

Bow bit his lip.

“Actually, I’m going with Perfuma this year-”

“WHAT?!” Glimmer spun around to face him.

“Uh, yeah. She asked me and I said yes. I thought it might be fun to go with someone else for a change.” Glimmer looked angry while Bow rubbed the back of his neck.

“When did she even do that?” Glimmer’s nostrils flared.

“At movie night.”

*Flashback*

_Perfuma walked up to Bow as everyone was filing into the living room._

_“Hey, wanna go to homecoming with me?” She asked. Bow nodded eagerly._

_“Sure!” They joined the others in the room, Bow carrying a bowl of popcorn._

*Flashback end*

“Ugh! But going to the dance together is our thing! We always wear matching outfits and swap inside jokes and get ice cream afterward-” Bow put a hand on her shoulder.

“We can still get ice cream afterward, and we can still hang out together at the dance. Just because I’m going with Perfuma doesn’t mean I’ll ignore you.” Glimmer pouted.

“Fine. Whatever. Come on Adora, we’ll match instead.” Glimmer pulled Adora into her huge closet, leaving Bow out in the room alone. Adora could see him sit down on Glimmer’s bed, pulling out his phone to probably text Perfuma.

The girls went through dress after dress, looking for something that would fit Adora and match something else Glimmer owned.

“You’re too tall and too skinny. I’m gonna go look through my mom’s closet,” Glimmer stormed out, going across the hall to her mom’s room. Adora could tell that Bow’s ‘betrayal’ was on her mind, but Adora thought that she was being overdramatic. They were all going to the same dance, why did it matter that he was matching Perfuma and arriving with her?

Glimmer returned with a red and purple dress. Bow had left at this point, walking to Perfuma’s to get ready for the dance.

“I found this, see if it fits.” She handed Adora the dress and she nodded, pulling off her jacket and stripping down to try on the dress.

Glimmer meanwhile scanned her closet for something red and purple. She found a dress with a purple tutu-like skirt and a red top.

“Hey! It’s like almost the same color!” She showed it to Adora, who now was wearing the dress. It fit her athletic form perfectly.

“I’m guessing these are the ones?” Adora asked. Glimmer nodded enthusiastically and put on her dress.

“Yep! Now it’s time for hair and makeup!”

Glimmer grabbed Adora’s arm and dragged her away into the bedroom.

…

“Are you going to the Homecoming dance?” Scorpia asked Catra. They were lounging in Scorpia’s room. Catra was scrolling through her Instagram. 

“No way. That’s for the prissy kids.” Catra was sprawled out across Scorpia’s bed, phone held high above her face.

Then she scrolled across a picture Adora had posted. It was of her and Glimmer dressed for the dance. It was a candid of Glimmer doing Adora’s makeup, probably taken by Bow.

“Nevermind. We’re going to Homecoming.” She threw her phone onto the bed and bolted for Scorpia’s closet. Scorpia watched her with a confused look on her face but went along with it, helping her sort through the closet for some of her older clothes that would fit the petite girl.

…

Adora and Glimmer arrived at the dance ten minutes late, but that was okay. They were fashionably late.

When they walked in, they didn’t see any of their friends. Adora and Glimmer moved to the side of the room to wait for them.

Bow and Perfuma arrived a few minutes later and joined them. Glimmer looked a little mad at Bow, but Adora chose to ignore it. She was wondering if Catra was going to show. She mentally kicked herself. She needed to get her mind off Catra. She turned to focus on Bow.

Bow was telling some story about a dog who ran loose through Plumeria for two hours. Adora tried to keep up but her eyes kept drifting to the entrance. She quietly gasped as Catra walked in, hanging on a white-haired girl’s arm.

Catra was wearing a disheveled suit and Adora didn’t know that she could clean up so nicely. It made her a little flustered, actually. She chose to ignore it and made her way towards them. No harm in being nice.

“Catra,” she said simply, walking up to the brunette. She notices that the way Catra was wearing her hair was such that it covered the top left part of her forehead.

“Hey Adora,” Catra purred, smirking at her. She was much more cocky than she had been at movie night. Adora didn’t know why. She probably was just fronting to get under Adora’s skin. “Meet my new best friend, Scorpia.” She gestured to the girl on her arm. Scorpia waved at Adora.

“Hi, Adora!” She said cheerily. 

New best friend? Now Adora knew that she was putting on a face. Call her conceited, but Catra couldn’t replace eleven years of friendship in a month. She had always been too emotionally attached for that.

“What brings you guys to Homecoming? Catra, I know you usually don’t go out to dances.” Adora cocked her head to the side. She couldn’t come up with any reason that they might be here for.

“Oh, just came for the free food. Might stick around for the drama,” Catra said dismissively. Adora narrowed her eyes at Catra. She couldn’t imagine what she was up to.

Just then Mermista walked in. Thank god, she had an excuse to get out of this extremely awkward conversation. She walked away and met up with Mermista.

“You come alone?” she asked. Mermista started to nod but was interrupted.

“And there she is! She’s my princess of the sea, Mermiissttaaa!” Sea Hawk came running over to her, singing a horrible shanty.

Adora tried to not laugh, raising an eyebrow instead. She noticed that the two were wearing matching outfits.

“You came with Sea Hawk?” She asked. Mermista groaned.

“He’s just my ride, okay? Just. My. Ride.” Mermista lightly pushed Sea Hawk away from her as he tried to hug her.

“Sure,” Adora said, playfully suspicious. She walked back over to Glimmer, Bow, and Perfuma. Entrapta had joined them in the time she was talking to Mermista.

“Oh my god! The Princess Alliance!” They jumped as they heard a shrill voice behind them. They turned around to find a small, blue-haired freshman.

“They’re actually calling us that? I thought that was just a joke…” Mermista mumbled.

“Can we help you?” Adora asked the girl. She nodded rapidly.

“I want to join you guys!” Glimmer raised an eyebrow.

“Sorry kid, but we’re kinda invite-only,” Glimmer said. The girl’s face fell before she brightened again.

“You’re collecting one person from each suburb, right? You don’t have somebody from Snows, and I live in Snows! You need me!”

Adora smiled. She turned to Glimmer, who was not smiling.

“Come on Glimmer, she isn’t wrong.”

“You don't even know her name!” Glimmer whisper-shouted.

Adora turned back to the girl.

“What’s your name, kid?”

“Ellie!” Ellie looked so hopeful, Adora couldn’t let her down now.

Adora turned back to Glimmer. Glimmer blew a piece of hair out of her face.

“Fine. This is your alliance anyway.” She crossed her arms over her chest.

“Well everyone, welcome Ellie as the newest member to the Princess Alliance!” Adora put a hand on Ellie’s back and lightly pulled her into the group. Everyone quietly clapped and smiled.

Mermista, Perfuma, Sea Hawk, and Ellie broke off the main group to go over to the refreshments table. Bow, Glimmer, and Adora continued to talk while Entrapta studied the people around her.

Glimmer’s eyes then landed on Scorpia and Catra.

“Ugh, why did they show up? Nobody wants to hang out with a disabled girl. It’s sad that she’s the best Catra could do. And that suit? It makes her look poorer than that hair.” Glimmer laughed, but nobody else joined her. Adora looked at her, bewildered. Bow looked angry. Entrapta looked hurt and betrayed.

“Glimmer, don’t say things like that!” Adora scolded. 

“ **That’s** how you feel about Sunny?! That’s awful!” Bow was fuming. Glimmer looked at him like she didn’t see the problem.

“Were we not all thinking it?!”

“NO!” Adora almost yelled. “Why would you?!”

“Never say something like that again! Actually, never think something like that!” Bow almost yelled.

Adora’s eyes landed on Entrapta. Entrapta looked ready to cry. 

“If that’s how you feel about people who are different from you, I don’t think I want to be part of this alliance anymore,” she said quietly. The purple-haired girl ran off, managing to jump up into the vents to hide.

“Entrapta!” Adora called, reaching out a hand for her, but she was gone before she could grab her. She and Bow both turned to glare at Glimmer.

“I don’t think I need to be around you right now, Glimmer. You need to think about your opinions and what they do to other people,” Bow said. Glimmer’s jaw dropped.

“What? Because of one comment, you're just going to drop me like Adora dropped Catra?”

Adora stepped forward and linked her arm around Bow’s.

“Maybe I’m starting to have mixed feelings about fighting with Catra. At least she wasn’t an ableist.” She glared at Glimmer one last time over her shoulder before she and Bow walked off to go talk to the others.

…

“Hey, they backstab you too?”

Entrapta was hidden behind the gym, sitting outside with her knees pulled up to her chest. She looked up and found Catra standing there.

She sat down next to her and handed her a tiny cupcake. Entrapta took it, cradling it in her hand gently. She was surprised that this girl that didn’t know her knew that she only ate tiny food.

“Yeah. Glimmer said that nobody wants to hang out with disabled people, so I figured that they didn’t want to hang out with a weird girl like me either. They were just obligated to invite me to their alliance because all the other people from Dryl are old.” Catra looked at her sadly.

“Well, I think you’re cool, Entrapta. We’re better than those bullies.”

Entrapta searched Catra’s eyes, looking for something. She wasn’t sure what she was looking for.

“What do you say we form our own group. Fuck their Best Friend Squad. You, me, and Scorpia could be the Super Pal Trio.” Catra held out her hand. Entrapta pondered this idea for a moment before slowly shaking on it.

“Yeah, that sounds nice.”


	10. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CW/ Child abuse  
> Ugh this chapter is such filler I’m sorry. It gets better from here. I just wanted to show some Catra and Coach Weaver and the girls being mad at Glimmer.

“Okay guys, get into groups of four!” Mrs. Nessa told them. Adora heard Mermista groan in front of her. She turned around to face Adora, an eyebrow raised. Adora nodded, then scanned the room.

“Perfuma!” She called for the blonde at the front of the room. Perfuma smiled, then got up and ran over to join her and Mermista.

“Ugh, we need another person,” Mermista said. She was looking at the girl at the desk next to Adora. They all turned to see Glimmer, who was looking around the room.

Adora looked behind her, realizing that Catra was ditching today. She sighed, exchanging a look with Perfuma and Memista.

“Come on, Glimmer, work with us.” Glimmer turned to them and smiled, scooting her desk slightly so it was closer to them.

It had been a week since the incident at Homecoming and Glimmer had yet to apologize to anybody. Adora wondered if she even knew what she did wrong.

Glimmer could tell that all three girls would rather be working with someone else, but she ignored it. At least they had settled for her. That stood for something.

“If only Catra was here, I would rather work with her than Glimmer,” Mermista whispered to Adora. Adora giggled, nodding.

“Definitely.” 

While Mrs. Nessa explained their project, none of the girls looked at Glimmer. She kept sneaking glances and trying to get Adora’s attention, but Adora ignored her. She scribbled down a note about the assignment in her notebook.

Thankfully, the bell rang and they were released before Glimmer could start running her mouth.

“Do you guys have anything to do after school?” Perfuma asked as they stood up, gathering their things.

“I have swim until five,” Mermista said, shouldering her backpack.

“I’ve got soccer until four-thirty, but I’m free tomorrow afternoon,” Adora said.

“Yeah, I’m free too,” Mermista agreed.

“I’ll go ask Mrs. Nessa if we can work in her room after school tomorrow.” Perfuma walked over to the teacher’s desk while Adora, Mermista, and Glimmer left the room. When they got out into the hallway, Adora and Mermista didn’t even look at Glimmer before walking off together to their next class.

Glimmer sighed and reserved to take the long way to her next class.

…

The next afternoon Perfuma, Adora, and Mermista filed into Mrs. Nessa’s room. They found that Glimmer was already there, waiting on them.

“Okay, so I brainstormed some ideas for our project last night.” She pulled out a variety of origami paper. “I think we should do something with origami.”

Perfuma nodded.

“We can make a bunch of little animals! Like a bunny,” she picked up a white one. Mermista grabbed a blue one.

“Or a shark.”

“Or a shark…” Perfuma gave Mermista a weird look. Mermista just smirked.

“Or we could make a model of a building to show how geometry affects our everyday lives,” Glimmer said, pulling out a sheet of paper where she had sketched out some ideas.

“The project is to show geometry interacting with our world in a creative way. I was thinking of a puppet show with origami,” Adora countered. Perfuma and Mermista nodded.

“Yeah, that’s better,” Perfuma said.

“I like Adora’s idea,” Mermista agreed. Glimmer slumped down in her seat.

“Why do I even bother…” she mumbled.

The four began to Google how to make origami animals and folded in silence. It was awkward, but at least they got some of their project done.

“I’m gonna write a script for our play tonight. Perfuma, can you make a stage thing out of a box?” Adora asked. Perfuma nodded.

“Of course.”

As she left the school that afternoon, she noticed that Coach Weaver’s car was still in the parking lot. She spotted Catra sitting in the passenger's seat. She looked upset. Adora then watched her dad’s car pull up and was forced to leave, despite how much she wanted to go over and see what was wrong.

…

Catra trembled as she walked out of school. She had detention that day for getting into a fight with a Senior, and so she had to ride home with her adoptive mother instead of walking. When she got out to the car, she realized that Coach Weaver wasn’t around. She let out a sigh of relief.

“Katherine!” Catra went rigid. 

“Yes?” she asked, turning around. She was met with a slap to the face.

Nobody was around, and a part of her wished that they were. Catra felt tears brimming her eyes.

“No disgrace of a child of mine will get into fights in the bathroom! You’re making a terrible image for me and I will have none of it! Go sit in the car and await the rest of your punishment at home,” Coach Weaver yelled, pointing at the car. Catra nodded scurrying off. Her cheek stung and she pressed a hand into it.

Coach Weaver retreated into the building and Catra climbed into the passenger’s seat of the car. She wanted to curl up and cry, but she knew she had a lot more coming. She took a deep, shaking breath and dried her tears.

She looked to her right and spotted a blonde wearing a ponytail with a ridiculously dumb hair poof. Her anger raged.

This was all motherfucking Adora’s fault.


	11. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CW/ Classist and ableist themes; a small mention of child abuse.

Bow had suggested that they have a meeting.

Feelings had been running high for two weeks now. Ever since the Homecoming dance. None of the Princess Alliance wanted anything to do with Glimmer. She ate her lunch alone in her mom’s office every day and nobody seemed to feel bad for her.

But Bow had called a meeting before school on a Thursday so they could talk.

“Hello, everyone. Thank you for coming,” he greeted.

They all sat around a picnic bench in front of the school. Adora had brought Starbucks for everyone and they were all sucking on their drinks, staring intently at Bow. “As you all know, this is the first official meeting of the Princess Alliance. I do wish we could be here under better circumstances, but we have things to address.” Bow clasped his hands together and everyone glanced at Glimmer, who was sitting away from the rest of the group. 

“Before we start, can I say something?” Ellie asked. Bow nodded.

“What is it?”

“Everyone has super cool and unique names. I want one!” Bow cracked a smile at that.

“Well, what do you want to be called?” He asked. Ellie thought about it for a moment.

“Well, I'm an ice skater, so maybe something like..." Ellie hummer. "Frosta!” she exclaimed after a moment. Bow laughed.

“Frosta it is then.” Frosta beamed.

Adora pouted.

“I want a cool name…” she mumbled.

Mermista rolled her eyes.

“Of course you do.”

“What about She-Ra?” A voice behind Adora said. She jumped, spinning around to see the speaker. Mara giggled. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.”

“Oh, hey Mara.” Adora waved awkwardly. 

“Where’d She-Ra come from?” Perfuma asked.

“That’s Adora’s favorite soccer player’s nickname on the field.”

Mermista narrowed her eyes.

“And you know that how?”

Mara laughed.

“It takes being around Adora for ten minutes to know that. She’s a total fangirl. That’s like all she talks about at our practices.” Adora blushed.

“It’s not- all I talk about…”

Mara smirked.

“Right, I forgot, you also talk about how much you wa-” Adora threw her hand over Mara’s mouth.

“Oh, it looks like Lilly Hope just got here! Why don’t you go talk to her!!” She turned Mara by her shoulders to face her in the direction of the blonde in question.

“Alright,” Mara giggled. “See you guys later!” She waved at them as she walked away.

Adora sat back down, face red. She tugged at her hair.

“Do we wanna know how that sentence ended?” Sea Hawk asked.

Adora buried her face into her arms on the table. 

“No. You don’t.”

…

The meeting had mostly involved everyone trying to explain to Glimmer what she did wrong. By the end of it, they still weren’t sure she understood.

Adora was pretty mad at her. It wasn’t a hard concept to grasp. She just didn’t know why they couldn’t get through to her.

Adora’s classes went quickly and before she knew it the lunch bell was ringing. As she was making her way out of class, she ran into somebody.

“Oh my god! I’m so sorry!” she rushed to help pick up the books the person had been carrying. When she had gathered them all and finally looked up, she realized who she had bumped into.

“Well, maybe you should watch where you’re going,” Catra took her books back from Adora with more force than was necessary. Standing next to her was Entrapta, who was glaring at Adora.

As they walked away, Adora caught a glimpse of another mark on Catra’s cheek. She watched them go, gears turning in her head as she tried to figure out what to do.

…

Glimmer slumped down into the chair in her mom’s office. She crossed her arms over her chest, her lunchbox sitting forgotten on the floor at her feet.

“Are you guys still fighting?” Principal Angela asked.

Glimmer nodded.

“They tried to have an ‘intervention’ with me today.” She made air quotes with her fingers around the word ‘intervention’.

“How did that go?” Angela asked, reading over a paper on her desk.

“Fine, I guess. They all still seem pretty mad at me. I don’t even know why it’s such a big deal!” Glimmer exclaimed, throwing her hands up in exasperation.

“What exactly did you do?” 

“At the homecoming dance, I said that nobody wanted to hang out with Sunny because she’s a disabled girl and that Katherine looked like poor trash. It shouldn’t be such a big deal.” Glimmer rolled her eyes.

“You what?!” Angela exclaimed, standing up and slamming her hands down on her desk.

Glimmer studied her mom’s face. After a moment, she bit her bottom lip.

“Is it really that bad?” she asked quietly.

“Yes, Glimmah! It’s horrible! Did I really fail you that horribly as a parent that you think like that? At least tell me you didn’t say it to their faces,” Angela begged. Glimmer shook her head.

“I said it to Adora, Bow, and Bambi. Bambi got offended by it and left the alliance.”

Angela groaned, resting her head in her hands.

“And you don’t see the problem with what you said?”

“They called it classist and ableist. I don’t even know what that means.” 

Angela sighed.

“Classist means that you put other people down and judge them because of how much money they have. Ableism is discrimination in favor of able-bodied people. What you said is both of those things,” Angela explained. “Ugh, your dad was always better at stuff like this…”

Glimmer slumped down farther into her chair.

“What should I do?” she asked.

“Apologize?” Angela asked as if it was obvious. 

Glimmer pondered this. “Okay,” she said quietly. She gathered her stuff.

“Be genuine about it. They don’t want a half-assed apology.” Angela said as she walked out. Glimmer just nodded. All she had to do was say sorry, it couldn’t be that hard, and then they would all go back to normal, right? She looked back at her mom through the window in the door.

Angela was resting her head in her arms and she looked sad. Glimmer frowned. She had never meant to make her mom feel like that. Maybe she really had fucked up. 

…

Glimmer approached the lunch table where all her friends sat. She felt them all glaring at her as she walked up.

“What do you want?” Mermista snarled, not looking up from her phone.

“Uh- I wanted to apologize for what I said. I realized why it’s so wrong, and I’m sorry.” Glimmer made sure to make eye contact with Bow and Adora.

“Tell me why it was wrong,” Adora said, stone-faced.

“Because, well, it was classist and ableist to imply that people are only worth their money or that a disabled person is any less great than an able-bodied person.” Glimmer toyed with the strap of her book bag nervously.

“I’m glad you recognize that, but we’re not the people you should be apologizing to.” Bow informed her. Glimmer’s face fell.

She opened her mouth to speak but was interrupted by the bell ringing.

Everyone got up, gathering their things and walking off, leaving Glimmer standing there, alone to think about her thoughts and actions.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What does Mara know? A lot. She sees all and knows all.


	12. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CW/ References to child abuse; underage drinking; hints at underage sex
> 
> Mermista finally gets some spotlight and I threw in a cute Seamista moment because they deserve it. And more Catradora angst!!!

Mermista was sitting at the kitchen table with her dad, eating dinner, when she got the text.

_From: Adora Grayskull_

_Hey, Perfuma, Bow, and I are going to Adam’s bb game then going skating after. Wanna come?_

Mermista glanced up at her dad. She wouldn’t mind getting out of the house, and as long as Glimmer wasn’t going to show up, she could hopefully have a good time.

_From: Me_

_Yeah, sure. What time?_ _  
_ Adora texted back almost immediately.

_From: Adora Grayskull_

_It starts at 7. We’ll come to pick you up. My parents already left to take Adam to the game so I’ve got our car tonight. So be ready in like 30 mins._

Mermista looked to the clock on the wall. It was just past six. She shoveled the last bite of her dinner into her mouth.

“You in a rush?” Her dad asked. Mermista rolled her eyes.

“I’m going out with some friends tonight.” She pushed her chair back, getting up and taking her plate to the sink. “We’re going to the basketball game.” She rinsed it off before placing it and her silverware in the dishwasher.

“Since when?” Merlin asked, his tone implying anger. 

“Since now. I need to go get ready.” Mermista turned to leave the kitchen.

“Wait a minute, Misty.” Mermista froze at the use of her real name. She could feel her blood pressure rising. God, she hated her dad. “Who all is going?”

Mermista took a deep breath.

“Adora, Bow, and Perfuma,” she answered coolly. She inspected her nails, trying to look busy as her dad’s gaze bore into her back.

“Fine. You can go, but stay away from that boy.” He went back to eating his food.

Mermista wanted to snap back, say that he was more than just a boy, that he had a name and shouldn’t be treated like a rapist or criminal, but Mermista held her tongue. She needed to get ready. Watching her every move, she made her way up the stairs and into her bedroom.

…

Adora, Perfuma, and Bow pulled up outside the beach house minutes before fifteen til. Mermista grabbed her bag, rushing through the hallway to get past her dad in the living room before he could stop her. Once she was outside, she walked casually to the car and climbed in the backseat with Perfuma.

They rode in friendly chatter, talking about surface-level things while they drove to the school. They seemed to be avoiding the topic of Glimmer all together.

When they got to the gym, Perfuma and Bow went to get snacks while Mermista and Adora found seats. They sat on the fifth row in the bleachers, idly scrolling through their phones while waiting for their companions to return.

The basketball game wasn’t that eventful. It was painfully obvious from the beginning that the other team was not good. Adora sent out a few Snaps and they consumed more overpriced sugar than they should have, but it was justified by their win.

After the game, the four filed out, tossing away their trash as they left. The game had only been an excuse to get out, and now they were headed to the nearby skating rink.

Adora rented a pair of rollerblades while everybody else got regular roller skates. They did a few casual laps, just talking about mindless things.

“So, Perfuma, I saw you blushing at number 9,” Mermista said, winking. Perfuma blanched.

“I was not!”

“How do you even know him?” Adora asked.

“His father runs the animal shelter downtown,” Perfuma said.

“So you’re into a guy because he likes animals?” Bow looked ready to implode. “That’s so cute!”

Perfuma blushed. “He’s just a really nice guy.”

Mermista laughed, then caught sight of someone as she turned her head away. She smirked, slowly backing away from the group. She made her way over to the boy. She knew her dad would be pissed at her for this, but she didn’t give a shit.

“Hey,” she said, leaning up against the wall that Sea Hawk stood on the other side of.

“Hello, my dearest. Fancy meeting you here.” Mermista rolled her eyes but smiled all the same.

“What a charmer.”

He took her hand into his and lightly kissed the back of it.

“Only for you.” Mermista groaned in pretend annoyance.

“I’m over the skating thing,” she said, scaling the small wall and coming to rest on the bench behind it. Sea Hawk sat down next to her.

“Rough night?”

“Kinda. Dad was being a dick when I said I was going out, but that’s nothing new.” Hesitantly, she laid her head against his arm. He still held her hand. “He hates you, y’know.” 

“Yeah, I’ve heard.” Mermista laughed.

“It doesn’t matter anyway. I don’t care about what he thinks.” Sea Hawk snorted.

“Of course not, Mista.” Mermista smiled at the nickname. Sea Hawk was the only person she didn’t freeze up around when she heard someone start to address her with ‘Mist-’.

“Wanna get out of here?” she asked. Sea Hawk raised an eyebrow.

“It’s been ten minutes.”

Mermista rolled her eyes. “So what? Come on, let’s go back to your place and have a good time.” She winked and Sea Hawk grinned.

“Sure let’s do that.”

…

Catra raced to her room, throwing the door shut behind her. Tears streamed down her face as her eye burned from where she had been scratched. Blood poured down over her lips from her nose and her forehead and cheeks were starting to bruise.

She felt something soft and fluffy hit her as the door slammed. She jumped, startled, before turning to look at it.

On the back of her door hung a gray and red robe. She recognized it immediately. Catra couldn't believe that in the two months since their fight she had never realized that Adora's robe was hanging on the back of her bedroom door.

She had left it there during their last sleepover, Catra remembered. Catra was going to take it back to her but forgot. Now, it stared at her beaten face as if mocking her.

She ripped it off the door, a blood-curdling scream filling her room. The force pulled the command hook off the door too. Catra crashed to the floor, trying to rip at the robe with her nails. She screamed and cried into the fluff.

She knew that her sobs fell on deaf ears in the living room. Shadow Bitch was drunk off her ass. She had run out of wine and was very angry when she found out that it was because Catra had chugged half a bottle earlier in the evening. Catra was starting to regret it. Getting drunk didn’t help alleviate the pain anymore. Catra just cried harder.

She buried her face into the robe, staining it with blood that streamed out of her nose. Catra curled up on her floor, not knowing what to do.

She laid there for a long time. She didn't know how long. The robe still smelled like Adora. Like her ocean breeze shampoo and strawberry conditioner. Like her flowery perfume and cherry blossom shaving gel. All the scents blurred together and created something that would be intoxicating if you tried to bottle it, but was so uniquely _Adora_ that it comforted Catra.

Her cries died down and she heard footsteps out in the hall. Catra bit her lip then winced when she realized it too had been cut. With a shaky hand, she reached for her phone that laid a few feet away from her on the floor.

She opened up her messaging app, the brightness of the screen almost hurting her vision. Her thumb hovered over each name. Scorpia and Entrapta were at the top, then Coach Weaver. Below her though was a name Catra wanted to block and delete. But she knew she kept it for a reason.

She was pathetic, doing this, really. She knew that as well as anyone. But her fingers were typing before her brain could comprehend her actions.

_From: Me_

_Hey, I need help. Things got rough here and I need to get out. Can I come to yours?_

Catra sent the message before she had time to regret it. She didn't expect a reply, Adora had probably blocked her, but it was worth a shot.

The little bubble the indicated Adora was typing popped up on the texting interface. Catra's eyes widened.

_From: Adora_

_What do you mean things got rough? I'm out w/ friends right now, but mom and Adam are home. You can go over, but we’re gonna talk when I get back. You know the garage code._

Of course, she was out on the town, hanging out with her stupid friends, while Catra was laying on her bedroom floor, bloody and crying. She gritted her teeth. She couldn't convince herself not to go, she needed to get out before things got worse.

She got up from the floor and grabbed her emergency bag. She left the robe on the floor as she crawled out the window. It was pitch black outside, save for the stars, but even those seemed dull.

Catra hugged her arms around herself as she started the walk to Adora's.

…

Adora dropped Perfuma off at her place, then took Bow to his, and finally pulled back into her own driveway.

It had been an affair trying to figure out where Mermista had run off to. She hadn’t been answering her phone and they had asked all around the skating rink to figure out where she went. Thankfully, the attendant who rented out skates had seen her leave with an older, mustached man. She had been scared for Mermista’s safety when they asked where she went, and they then had to explain that they knew the boy well and she wasn’t in any harm’s way.

Adora had almost forgotten about Catra until she entered the house and found her beat-up black tennis shoes just beyond the door. She hung her keys up on the hook and headed up the stairs, a part of her excited to see Catra.

When she opened her bedroom door, it was almost 11 pm and all the lights were off, but she could make out Catra’s form laying in her bed. She was still fully clothed and laying on top of the covers. Adora flipped on the lamp on her desk. Catra startled awake, a wild look in her eyes as she tried to figure out where she was.

Adora gasped seeing the condition of her face.

“Catra! What happened?!” Adora kneeled down in front of Catra, inspecting her bruised face that was covered in dried blood.

“Got into a fight,” Catra whispered.

“With who?” Adora asked.

“Irrelevant,” Catra dismissed. Adora bit her lip.

“Have you just been holed up in here since you came in?” Adora asked Catra nodded.

“I didn’t wanna disturb your family.”  
Adora sighed.

“Come on, let’s get you cleaned up.”

Adora led Catra to her bathroom and began to clean her face. She wiped away the blood and disinfected the cuts. Catra let her work, not responding when Adora would try and talk to her. She almost fee=ll asleep sitting up twice. Adora felt bad for her. Once she was cleaned up, she carried Catra back to bed. She laid her down and then changed into her own pajamas. She turned out the light and slid into bed behind Catra.

“I remember when we used to share a bed as kids,” Catra mumbled. Adora wasn’t sure why she was so off, but she could only guess it was alcohol. She hoped it wasn’t a brain injury caused by whatever fight she got into.

Adora wrapped her arm around Catra’s waist.

“Yeah. I do too. I miss it,” Adora admitted. Catra hummed, then went quiet, and Adora realized that she had fallen asleep. Adora closed her eyes too.

“Goodnight, Catra.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's the end of act 1!!! Hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. Act 2 starting Friday!


	13. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CW/ References to child abuse, alcoholism.

Catra dragged the beauty blender over her red and purple skin. The action was redundant and she stared at herself in the mirror, eyes dull. As she covered up the bruises littering her face, her phone buzzed. She glazed over and realized it was a notification from Instagram.

She picked it up and unlocked her phone.

**Happy Birthday, Catra! Share the occasion to your story!**

Catra froze, dropping the pink piece of sponge.

Her birthday. She had forgotten all about it. She pulled down her notifications tab checking the date.    
Sure enough, it was October 28th.

Catra’s face fell as she realized that this would be her first birthday without Adora. She felt herself start to cry. Goddamn, she was such a little bitch, crying over everything these days. She brushed away the tears and finished covering the marks on her face.

Catra walked to school alone, as she did every day. She kicked a rock along the sidewalk, boots scuffing. The sky was dark and gray to match her mood.

When she got to school, she found Scorpia and Entrapta waiting for her.

“Hey, wildcat!” Scorpia greeted. Catra barely raised her eyes to meet hers.

“Hey,” she mumbled.

“What’s wrong?” Scorpia asked, worried. Catra shook her head.

“Nothing, I’m just tired.” Catra lied through her teeth. She kind of felt bad about it, but she didn’t need pity. It was better if they just didn’t know.

Scorpia pulled her into a hug anyway. It felt nice. Catra let herself linger there, for just a minute, before she pulled away.

Entrapta began to ramble on about some new machine she had built as they walked into the building. Catra was listening, if only barely. Her friends could at least take her mind off everything, even if they didn’t know what was wrong.

…

Catra was hiding in the bathroom. Her breathing was heavy and tears fell down her face.

There was another kid in her English class second period whose birthday was today, and Mrs. Bella had called her out and made the whole class sing happy birthday to her, then class continued without a mention of Catra.

She didn’t know why it bothered her so much, but it had sparked a panic attack. Catra had run out of the room without even getting permission. She couldn’t let herself cry in class, not in front of a bunch of kids who could tell Coach Weaver about her meltdown.

She was hunkered down in the farther stall, trying to calm down. Nothing was working. Not her counts, not naming things she could see, not focusing on breathing. Nothing. Catra just cried harder.

The door of the bathroom opened and Catra stilled. She listened to the footsteps of boots on the floor as somebody came into the room.

“Catra?”

Adora’s voice rang out through the bathroom. Catra pulled her knees up to her chest and tried to pretend she wasn’t there.

“I know you’re here. I heard you crying.” She watched the floor as Adora walked up to the stall she was sitting in.

“Go away-” Catra choked out.

Adora said nothing and instead pressed her back up against the stall door and slid down to the floor.

“I saw you run past my classroom. You looked upset, so I decided to follow.” Adora slid her hand under the door. Catra reached out with a shaking hand and grabbed onto Adora’s, holding it tightly. The blonde somehow always knew what she needed. She heard Adora lean her head back against the door.

“Happy birthday, Catra. Sweet Sixteen.”   
Adora pushed something under the stall door with her other hand. It was a small, rainbow-colored box. Catra picked it up and dropped Adora’s hand. 

She heard Adora get up. Adora took two steps away before Catra stood up too, throwing the stall door open.

“Wait-” Catra held her arms out. She felt like an idiot, but she knew she needed this.

Adora smiled and pulled her into a hug. Catra leaned into her, resting her head on Adora’s shoulder. She felt weak falling into the arms of her ex-best friend, but her embrace was still so comforting.

“I’m here, Catra. I always will be,” Adora said.

Catra didn’t say anything. She didn’t even remember why she and Adora were fighting anymore.

When they pulled away, Adora left to get back to class. Catra carefully cleaned herself up and recovered her face to hide her bruises. She was just about to leave when she turned around and spotted the rainbow box still sitting on the floor of the bathroom stall.

She picked it up, opening it slowly. Inside was a cupcake. A vanilla one with chocolate frosting covered in rainbow sprinkles. Catra’s favorite.

Catra smiled to herself sadly, closing the box and hiding it inside her jacket pocket.

It was for the best that they weren’t friends.

At least, that’s what Catra kept telling herself.

…

Adora slumped down onto the bench of the locker room that afternoon. Soccer practice had just ended and she was ready to go home and sleep for a year.

“You look tired,” Mara said, sitting down next to her as she started to take off her cleats.

“I am.” Adora dragged a hand over her face. “I ran into Catra today. She was crying in the bathroom. It’s her birthday and I think everyone forgot. I just- I don’t know what to do. And you wanna know the worst part?”

Mara gave her a sad look. “What’s that?”

“I think I might have a crush on Catra. I just can’t get the image of her in that suit at Homecoming out of my head.” 

She heard Mara start to laugh.

“Adora, that was obvious last week when you couldn’t stop talking about how pretty her eyes were.”

“Can a girl not think another girl’s eyes are pretty?!” Adora’s face was bright red. Mara laughed again, standing up and fluffing Adora’s ponytail.

“You’ll figure it out eventually. You’re young. You have time. But I’ll always support you, I promise.” Mara stood up, putting away her gear in her soccer bag.

Adora snorted.

“You’re only a year older than me.”

Mara rolled her eyes and shouldered her bag.

“I’m just trying to help. See you tomorrow, Adora.” 

“See ya!” Adora waved as Mara left the locker room, the brunette waving back. “And Mara?!”

Mara turned back around. “Yeah?” She asked, hand on the doorknob.

“Thanks.” Adora smiled. Mara smiled back.

“You’re welcome.”

Mara finally left and Adora sighed as she was only one left in the locker room. She was thankful for Mara, even if she couldn’t help with all her problems. The older girl really was like the big sister she never had.

She picked up her phone, absent-mindedly scrolling. She came across a picture of Catra that Entrapta had posted a few days ago. They were both smiling, but she could tell that Catra’s smile didn’t reach her eyes. She was sporting a bruise, the same one that Adora thought she had seen in the hallway the other day when she bumped into the two girls.

She had never been so confused in her life.

…

Catra came home to a dark house.

She tiptoed down the hallway and to her room. She could hear Coach Weaver in the living room, snoring. She was probably drunk as shit. Catra had gone out to the mall with Scorpia and Entrapta after school and she guessed soccer practice got out early or something. Maybe Shadow Bitch just called in a substitute.

Catra quietly shut her door and set her bag down. With a shaking hand, she pulled the rainbow box from her jacket. She didn’t know why, but she had kept it there all day.

She sat down at her desk and set the box down in front of her. She opened the top drawer, pulling out a box of matches and a single candle. They had been for an art project Catra was assigned that she never got around to doing. She had taken the F and not thought about it again. She had bigger things to worry about than her failing grades anyway.

Catra removed the cupcake from the box. The icing was slightly melted, but that was okay. It was the good, expensive kind. The shit that she and Adora would snack on at two in the morning to further their extensive sugar highs and that was slathered onto every birthday cake, cookie, and brownie in the Grayskull home.

She swiped her finger along the side of it and stuck it into her mouth. It had been a while since she tasted the sticky, sugary goodness. Maybe since Adora and Adam’s birthday in January, she guessed.

She slid the candle into the top and lit a match. She held it in front of her face for a moment, staring into the flame, before she lit the candle.

You were supposed to make a wish before you blew out a birthday candle, right? Catra thought. She had no idea what to wish for.

She rolled her eyes. That was a stupid little kid tradition anyway. Wishes never came true. If they did, foundation wouldn’t be dripping down Catra’s face at the heat of the fire in front of her and revealing her bruises.

She took a breath, then blew out the candle. The room went dark, even the faulty bulb in the lamp on her desk flickering out.

“Happy fucking birthday to me.”


	14. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CW/ Underage drinking; vomiting (not graphic).  
> Hi hello, today on Teenage Wasteland a 13-year-old writes about a high school party after never having been to a high school party.  
> (The link in this chapter is not real. I just typed in random numbers and letters.)
> 
> I don't have chapter 15 ready yet, so I think next week I might take a break since it's Christmas and everything. I've been very busy this week with finals and my grandfather visiting and I'm kinda struggling with my mental health, so I probably won't post next week. There will be a chapter on Friday of this week though because it's prewritten. Thank you for understanding.

“Guess what?!” Adora squealed, running up to Bow and Perfuma.

“What?” Perfuma asked. Adora bounced on her heels, more excited than either had ever seen her.

“My parents are leaving me the house alone for the night! Adam has a basketball game two towns over, so they're going to stay at a hotel! You know what that means?”

Bow and Perfuma exchanged a look, confused.

“I can throw a Halloween party!”

“Like, a party-party? With drinking?” Perfuma asked, worried. Adora nodded, a huge grin on her face.

“Yes!” Perfuma gulped.

“I don’t know if we should be doing that…” Adora rolled her eyes.

“It’ll be fine. Besides, I’ve already started handing out the invitations.” Adora pulled two pieces of paper from her bag and handed one to Bow and one to Perfuma.

“See you there!” She called as she walked off, invitations in hand.

Perfuma looked down at the invitation in her hand. It was printed on orange paper and used blocky black letters.

**Adora Grayskull’s Halloween Bash!**

**21 Moonstone Lane**

**Bright Moon, Etheria**

**8:00 pm**

**Wear a costume, bring a friend, and prepare for a night of fun!**

Perfuma sighed.

…

‘It’ll be fine’ were dubbed as Adora’s famous last words.

The party was going great. Everyone was having a good time. It was a costume party and the Grayskull’s house was filled with everything from vampires to fairies. Bowls of candy littered every surface and were slowly depleting as the night went on. Hyper teenagers ran around the house, a few making brave moves on their crushes and friends as alcohol and sugar ran through their systems. A track of Halloween songs, as well as pop songs that dominated the radio stations, played through speakers placed around the house.

Adora had come up with some concoction she called ‘A Witches Brew’ that didn’t taste very good. She said that it was just fruit punch, vodka, and sprite, but Bow swore that he tasted Dr. Pepper somewhere in it, among other things that gave it a weird taste. 

Adora thought it tasted fantastic, and had been through four cups of it by ten pm.

“Who’re you texting?” a drunk Adora asked as she leaned over Bow’s shoulder. Adora was dressed in a Tinkerbell costume, her signature ponytail traded out for a bun on top of her head. There was glitter all over her face and Bow wondered if the gold glitter on her chin was an artistic choice or a mistake.

“Nobody. Go lay down, Adora. You can’t even walk in a straight line.” Bow awkwardly patted the top of Adora’s head. Adora rolled her eyes.

“N-Not true! I can walk!” Adora let out a small giggle at nothing. 

Mermista appeared across the island from the two. 

“You’re wasted, Adora. I just watched you slam into a bookshelf then laugh about it ten minutes ago,” she said nonchalantly as she took a drink of the vodka and cherry 7up she had in her red solo cup. She was dressed in a simple angel costume that revealed more than her dad would have ever been okay about.

“An angel? That’s an interesting choice...” Bow said. He trailed off as Sea Hawk appeared behind Mermista dressed in an over the top devil’s costume. She gestured towards him.

“It was his idea.”

“What are you supposed to be?” Mermista asked, cocking her head to the side as she inspected Bow’s costume.

“An archer!”

Mermista looked him up and down.

“Oh, I was thinking like a deranged Greek god. You look like Apollo went off the deep end.” Bow looked down at himself, then glared at Mermista.

“Did you happen to invite Entrapta, Adora?” Sea Hawk asked. Bow nodded for her.

“Yeah, she did. But she’s not here. She posted about hanging out with Catra and Scorpia for Halloween.” Adora slid onto the seat at the island beside Bow and dropped her head down to the table. She giggled.

“Catra… She’s mean,” she snorted. Mermista, Sea Hawk, and Bow exchanged a look.

“I knew this party was a bad idea…” Perfuma grumbled as she walked up to the small group. She was covered in fake blood.

“What the fuck happened to you?” Mermista asked.

“Nothing. I’m dressed as Carrie.” Mermsita gave her a strange look. “Don’t tell me you don’t know who Carrie is…”

Mermista shook her head. “No, I know who Carrie is. I’ve read the book. It just seems like an odd choice of costume for _you_.” Mermista gestured to Perfuma. Perfuma shot her a glare.

“Just because I enjoy flowers and being nice doesn’t mean I can't also enjoy some fictional horror.” Perfuma huffed. Mermista rolled her eyes.

“I’m not drunk enough for this.” Mermista took another drink from her cup.

“What’s so bad about the party? Aside from the fact that the host is completely drunk?” Bow pointed to Adora, who was trying to unlock his phone. Bow carefully pried it from her grasp and gave her his cup of water instead.

“A house full of sweaty, drunk, sugar-filled kids is not my happy place.” Perfuma pushed some of her sticky hair out of her face.

Bow’s phone buzzed in his hand as he nodded.

_From: Glimmer._

_R u really having a Halloween party without me?_

Bow rolled his eyes. Not this again. He had been texting Glimmer the whole party, trying to convince her that she had not been left out of the event. She definitely had, but that wasn’t the point. Bow was resigned to continue to be angry with her until she apologized to Entrapta, Scorpia, and Catra. And so far, she had yet to do that.

_From: Me_

_No, we aren’t. I’m literally just at home watching horror movies with my dads._

Glimmer texted back almost immediately.

_From: Glimmer_

_Frosta just posted about a party at Adora’s 3 minutes ago._

_[_ [ _https://Instagram.com/p/g63hY07hkzgyns93wm7es4/_ ](https://instagram.com/p/g63hY07hkzgyns93wm7es4/) _]_

Bow clicked on the link and sure enough, Frosta had posted a picture of her in her Elsa costume less than five minutes prior with the caption: 

_Adora really knows how to throw a party!_

Bow snickered. He was pretty sure that this was the first time that the Freshman had ever actually been to a party.

_From: Me_

_They’re having a party, I’m not there. Go bother someone else._

Bow felt a little bad about lying to Glimmer, but he was really not in the mood to deal with her right now. He turned around and realized that Adora had run off.

“Did anyone see where she went?” He asked the trio. Mermista pointed towards the stairs.

“She’s up there.”

Bow looked up to where she was pointed and spotted Adora climbing onto the railing. Bow jumped up and ran towards the staircase.

“Adora, no!”

…

“Entrapta, truth or dare?” Catra asked, taking a drink of her wine.

“Truth,” Entrapta responded.

The Super Pal Trio sat in a little circle in Catra’s bedroom. A box of Cards Against Humanity sat behind them. Turns out, it wasn’t very fun with three people, but it was okay when you were tipsy. They had been slowly going through a bottle of wine all night and Catra had definitely drunk the most. It took a lot more for her to get messed up than it did Scorpia or Entrapta. She had become resistant to it over the years and just one glass didn’t really do anything.

“Have you ever had a crush on someone?” It was a basic question, but Catra wasn’t thinking very hard anymore.

Entrapta thought about it.

“I don’t think so…” She twirled some of her hair around a gloved hand as she flipped through her memories. “Maybe Bow, he’s nice.” Catra snickered.

“No, who have you liked so much that you think about them for hours while you fall asleep. Who fills you every emotion, thought, and is in your head all the time?”

“Uh, Catra? I don’t think most people feel like that about someone,” Scorpia said. “At least, I’ve never felt like that about someone.” Catra cocked her head to the side.

“Sure they do.” She took another sip of her red wine.

Entrapta shook her head.

“I’ve definitely never felt like that. That seems like an unhealthy obsession.”

Catra rolled her eyes.

“It’s whatever. I don’t even feel like that.”

Entrapta and Scorpia both looked at her with disbelief on their faces.

“Really? Cause that was oddly specific,” Scorpia said. Catra just glared at her.

“Drop it. It doesn’t matter. Forget I said anything.” Catra downed the rest of the wine in her glass. She reached for a box behind her. “Ouija board?”

Both girls nodded and Catra grabbed the bottle of wine, pouring herself another glass and topping off both of theirs. She got up and turned the light on her desk off, then lit a few candles. She set them around the room and returned to her spot on the floor.

She unpacked the board and laid it out in front of the group. She placed the planchette on top of the board. They each put a claw, or in Scopria’s case a pincer, on the planchette.

“I wonder if I can find my will to live with this thing,” Catra joked. Scorpia gave her a sad look.

“Are there any spirits with us here tonight?” they all asked in unison moving the piece around in a circle on the board.

…

“Ugh, it’s okay, you’re okay.”

Mermista awkwardly rubbed Adora’s back while the girl in question emptied her guts in the downstairs toilet.

“We probably should have cut her off after three cups,” Bow said from the doorway.

It was approaching one am and they had ended the party and currently, Sea Hawk and Perfuma were getting everybody out of the house while Bow and Mermista took care of a very drunk Adora who was entering her hangover.

“You think?” Mermista quipped. Adora groaned and coughed.

“Fuck alcohol,” she muttered before she forced her head back down into the toilet as another round of nausea hit her.

“Let it out.” Mermista wrinkled her nose at the smell and turned her head away. Bow sighed and shook his head.

“I guess I’m spending the night. I don’t think it’s safe to leave her alone like this, knowing Adora, she’d probably choke on her own vomit or something.” Mermista nodded, glancing down at Adora.

“I’d stay too but my dad would probably actually kill me.” Mermista rolled her eyes.

Perfuma appeared in the doorway behind Bow.

“Okay, we got everyone out and Sea Hawk is getting rid of all the evidence.”

Adora laid her head against the seat of the toilet, resting her head against her arm. Mermista brushed a strand of loose hair out of Adora’s face. Her bun was falling and Mermista did her best to hold her hair back.

“Does that mean that he’s putting all the alcohol in his car?” Mermista asked. Perfuma nodded, ashamed.

“I told him to just pour it out but-”

“We can’t just let good vodka go to waste!” Sea Hawk cut her off as he came into the bathroom.

“Set it on fire,” Adora groaned. Mermista laughed.

“Yeah, you should go to bed. Bow?” Mermista looked to Bow for assistance, as Adora was sitting in her lap somehow and pinning her down. Bow came over and picked Adora up into a bridal carry. Sea Hawk then came over and held out a hand to help Mermista up off the floor. She flushed the toilet and set the lid down, then followed him out of the small room, waving goodbye to Bow and Perfuma as she went.

“Bye guys!” Sea Hawk called. Bow and Perfuma both waved.

“Wanna help me get her to bed?” Bow asked, turning to Perfuma.

“Yeah, it’s definitely going to be a two-person job.”

...

Catra curled up in her bed that night after Scorpia and Entrapta had left well after one in the morning. She couldn’t get what they said about her feelings out of her head. Did nobody else really not feel like she did?

Adora seemingly consumed everything Catra thought and did. She dreamed about her at night, drew the back of her head when she wasn’t paying attention and daydreaming in math class. She made ramen the way Adora taught her to in the sixth grade. She jumped into leaf piles on the walk to school after running for three steps because that’s how Adora did it. She always wrote her sevens with a dash through the vertical line because that’s how Adora wrote hers. Everything she did almost daily somehow connected to Adora.

She groaned into her pillow.

Adora was always present, fucking with her head.

How do you get somebody to stop doing something when they aren’t doing anything at all?


	15. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CW/ Child neglect; deadnaming.  
> Apparently, I’m really bad at writing science-y stuff, so the Entrapta and Hordak scene is pretty short. Also, Scorpia is an angel and Mermista really deserves better.

Catra slammed her English book down onto the lunch table as she sat down. Scorpia jumped at the sudden loud noise.

“You okay, wildcat?” she asked, noticing that her friend was pretty angry. Catra lowly growled.

“I’m fine,” she muttered, sitting down slowly. She gripped her book so hard Scorpia thought that if it wasn’t a hardcover it would rip. Scorpia took a bite of her sandwich with hesitation, not wanting to further Catra’s anger.

“What’s wrong, Catra?!” Entrapta asked, jumping over the back of her chair and sitting down in it. Catra rolled her eyes at Entrapta’s antics. She was slowly getting used to it, the dropping out of vents at a moment’s notice, the hyperactivity, the fact that she always had some sort of tool in her hands.

Catra crossed her arms over her chest and slumped down in her seat.

“Shadow Bitch forgot to put more money in my lunch account again,” she half-whispered, half-grumbled. 

“Why didn’t you say something?!” Scorpia stood up, pushing her chair back as she set down her food and made her way away from the table and to the lunch line.

“What the hell is she doing?” Catra asked. 

“It appears she is buying you lunch,” Entrapta said bluntly. Catra bit her lip. The two watched Scorpia have a conversation with Ms. Razz while she got the food, although they couldn’t make out what they were saying.

Scorpia came back over with a tray a few minutes later. She set it down in front of Catra.

“Here you go!” Catra looked down at the food. Today it was nachos, which was among the school foods that weren’t that bad. “I always bring my lunch from home, but I always have a few meals worth of money in my account in case of an emergency,” Scorpia explained.

“You didn’t have to do this,” Catra said as she picked up a chip and popped it into her mouth.

“Of course I did! You can’t just go hungry, Catra.” Catra rolled her eyes.

“It wouldn’t be the first time and I doubt it’d be the last. I’m fine skipping a meal.” Scorpia looked bewildered.

“That’s horrible!”

Catra shrugged. “I mean, Adora used to always have a granola bar for me in case it happened, and I was fine with just that.” Entrapta shook her head.

“In order for the human body to function you need to get proper nutrients every day. It’s bad to skip meals,” she said. Catra rolled her eyes.

“Skipping lunch once or twice isn’t gonna kill me. I’m fine. But… thanks.” Catra gave Scorpia a soft smile that she would have missed if she had blinked. Scorpia smiled back.

…

Entrapta crawled her way through the vents. She used a wheeled pad that mechanics used when working under cars to slide around the metal shaft quickly and easily. She stopped and pushed open a grate and dropped down into her laboratory.

“Hey, Hordak!” she waved as she landed directly on her rolling stool.

“Hello, Entrapta.” The janitor replied. On the second floor of the school, he had a spare closet that he allowed the girl to use as her lab while at school. Because of this, the two had formed a pretty close friendship. Entrapta had taught him a lot about machinery and science in the time they worked together.

“What’re we working on today?” Entrapta pet the top of Emily’s head as the dog came over to her. Technically, they weren’t allowed to have pets on the school grounds, but as long as she stayed hidden in the lab nobody had to know about the labrador. So far, they had been going strong keeping her a secret for almost a year, since Entrapta had found her on the street while walking home from school.

“I thought that we could continue work on the cleaning machine,” Hordak said. Entrapta nodded.

“Yes, we should do that.” she pushed her chair over to her desk. The duo had been working to modify a commercial Roomba to do its job even better and give it a mopping capability. The aforementioned Roomba laid in pieces on her desk. She picked up a screwdriver and began to prod at it. She picked up her recorder.

“Hordak, go find me a fire extinguisher. We haven’t replaced it since the last accident. I have a feeling this could go awry.” Hordak nodded and slipped out of the large closet.

The last accident Entrapta referred to was an incident when she tried to make homemade gunpowder and it caught fire from a nearby battery somehow. 

“Log 213. Today experiments on the remodeling of the Roomba continue. I will now take apart the motor to investigate its inner mechanics. Hmm… interesting, it appears to only be powered by three cords.” Entrapta rambled into her recorder while Emily laid her feet. She tinkered with the motor, pushing aside wires and unscrewing everything she could until the system was laid out in front of her. Hordak returned with the fire extinguisher and placed it into its spot.

Hordak came over to her and together they began to carefully demolish the inner workings of the motor so they could be replaced with higher power materials.

They worked throughout Entrapta’s entire free period, and by the end had managed to replace all the wiring.

“How much you wanna bet we did it wrong?” Hordak asked.

Entrapta laughed. “We probably did do it wrong, but that’s the fun of experiments! You get to do them all over again when you mess up!”

…

Sea Hawk liked to sit on the bleachers during swim practice to watch. He found it calming. He also gave Mermista a ride home most days while her dad worked, so it made sense to stick around for practice.

Mermista was a really good swimmer. She always had been. There was something about watching her in the water that felt mesmerizing. She had once told him that she felt at home in the water and Sea Hawk would tell why. Everyone loves to do the things that they're good at.

Friday’s practice had just ended and Mermista was drying off at the bottom of the bleachers in front of him. He moved down to talk to her when her father walked up.

“I don’t have any work to do today, so you can come with me,” he said.

“Uh- no thanks. I’m fine riding with Sea Hawk.” Mermista dragged her towel over her face, blinking off the water droplets that clung to her eyelashes.

“No, Misty. You’ll ride with me.” Sea Hawk watched Mermista freeze up at the use of that name. Mermista, who wasn’t afraid of anything, seemed to wrap her towel around herself tighter as if trying to shrink away from her father.

Sea Hawk knew he had to step in.

“Hey! Don’t call her that, you know she doesn't like that name.” Sea Hawk stood up, putting himself between Coach Merlin and Mermista.

“Sea Hawk…” she muttered, trying to get him to shut up.

“Oh, you think you can tell me how to parent my daughter?! Well let me tell you something, delinquent, she does not need to be anywhere around you! She wouldn’t have even come up with that stupid name if it wasn’t for you!” Mermista took a step back and tripped over her swim bag, falling. Sea Hawk spun around.

“Careful, are you okay?” He asked quietly as he helped her up. She rolled her eyes but nodded.    
“I’m fine.”

Sea Hawk turned back to Merlin.

“It’s not my fault that she found something that makes her happy! What doesn’t make her happy is you refusing to call her by her fucking name!” Sea Hawk didn’t care that he was swearing, he would defend Mermista until the day he died. Out of the corner of his eye, he watched Mermista rush into the locker room to change.

“I don’t need my daughter hooking up with some asshole like you!” Sea Hawk laughed.

“Oh, I’m an asshole for actually caring about her?! You haven’t cared about her since her mom died! Who was the one who held her then?! Who was the one that supported her and helped her out while she was grieving?! Me! You didn’t do a goddamn thing!”

Sea Hawk was grateful that they were the only ones left around the pool area. He would really prefer this whole argument didn’t end up on every student’s social media feeds, if only for Mermista’s sake.

“Fine, do what you want with her. I don’t care.” Merlin gave in and walked off.

“That’s right! You never cared!” Sea Hawk called after him.

He dropped down to the bleachers and placed his elbows on his knees, running his hands through his hair. He tried to focus on taking deep breaths, but he was just so angry.

“Hey, everything okay?” He heard Mermista asked as she returned and sat down next to him.

“No, not really. I didn’t know your dad was such an asshole.” Mermista giggled.

“Yeah, he’s rough. Am I riding with you?” Mermista leaned into his side. 

“If I get a say, you’re never going back to that house. Come on, you’ll spend the night at my place.” Sea Hawk intertwined their fingers and pulled her up off the bleachers. She smiled.

“Fine by me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> remember that next week I will not be posting any chapters and we will return to our regular schedule on 12/30/2020 for the two-month anniversary of this story! Have a great winter break and a merry Christmas if you celebrate!
> 
> Xoxo-  
> Maybe


	16. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a little PSA: If your criticism isn’t constructive don’t comment it. If you politely give constructive criticism there is a very high chance I will change or fix when you’re talking about, but commenting rude things out of pocket is a one way ticket to get your comment deleted.
> 
> I don’t have next Wednesday’s chapter ready but I’m gonna go ahead and post this one since it has been a week. I’m so bad at time management I literally wrote nothing last week.
> 
> Can anyone tell which movie I nicked the Mermista story from?

Glimmer was sitting on a bench outside the gym during her free period when she noticed a smaller boy across the yard on the sidewalk beside the main building of the school. She was twirling a pen in her hand as she procrastinated her homework. A bird hopped along the grass between the gym and school building.

Being pressed up against the wall by a tall, buff blonde girl was a scrawny boy. Glimmer didn’t remember ever seeing him before, but somehow knew his name was Kyle. She vaguely remembered Adora talking about him being on the soccer team over Catra. 

Glimmer watched Kyle be intimidated into handing over his lunch money. He was punched, and Glimmer gasped.

“Hey!” she stood up from her spot, papers falling to the floor.

The blonde spun around to look at her. She sneered.

“Well if it isn’t little miss teachers pet Glimmer.” 

“Well if it isn’t a bitch who’s about to land her ass in detention!” Glimmer shot back.

“Oh yeah?!” the blonde waved Kyle’s lunch money in front of Glimmer’s face. “And who’s gonna put me there?!” Glimmer growled lowly and tried to grab for the money but the girl was a lot taller than she was.

“I think you know the answer to that.” Glimmer lunged for the cash and used her height to her ability as she kicked the girl swiftly in the shin. It didn’t do much, but it did make her lower her hand so Glimmer could snatch the bills from her. She only grabbed two ones, the girl still holding the five. She punched her from behind and took the grunt the girl emitted as her cue to leave. 

Glimmer ran over and grabbed Kyle’s hand, pulling him away as she ran into the building, heaving her backpack behind. It was fine, she could grab it later.

“You okay?” she asked, handing him the money back.

Kyle nodded.

“Uh, yeah. Are you?” 

“Yes.” Glimmer reached into the pocket of her jeans and pulled out her sparkling pink wallet. She pulled out a ten and handed it to Kyle. “Here, I couldn’t get the five back. Take this.”

“This is a ten,” Kyle said, taking the bill hesitantly.

“Yeah, I know. Who was that girl anyway?” Glimmer slid her wallet back into her pocket.

“Huntara. She’s a bitch who likes to pick on me and Lonnie.”

Glimmer rolled her eyes.

“I’ll have to talk to my mom about her. Have a good day, Kyle.” Glimmer smiled and sent him a wink as she walked back out of the building to get her bags. When she returned to the yard, Huntara was gone. She shook her head to herself.

Kyle had looked scared of her when she stepped in. Was that how everyone saw her? Did they hate her like they hated Huntara?

Glimmer bit her lip as she picked up her bag and homework. She looked out towards the parking lot that was next to the gym. She spotted a familiar purple head sitting on top of a car next to a white-haired girl.

Glimmer took a deep breath. She guessed that it was now or never if she was ever going to apologize.

She began to walk across the parking lot to the two girls. She noticed that Catra was strangely absent. She usually always hung around with Scorpia and Entrapta.  She could only assume that the girl was off brooding on a corner somewhere.

She reached the car soon enough. It was a powder blue Honda that Glimmer thought was very ugly. Glimmer wasn’t sure who it belonged to. Scorpia looked up as Glimmer approached. She saw a flash of anger cross her face before she smiled widely.

“Hi, Glimmer! What are you doing over here?” She cocked her head to the side, confused.

“Um, I saw you guys sitting over here and figured that I should… apologize for what I said at Homecoming.” Entrapta looked up from the little gadget she was tinkering with at that.

The girls exchanged a look of uncertainty. 

“Wait, really? You’re apologizing?” Entrapta asked, even more confused than Scorpia. Glimmer nodded.

“It was really, really mean. I had a lot of time to reflect, and I realize that now. I’m sorry. So sorry.” Glimmer made eye contact with both Scorpia and Entrapta before averting her gaze to the concrete.

Scorpia and Entrapta leaned into each other, whispering back and forth. Glimmer took a few steps back, not wanting to impede on their conversation.

After a minute, Entrapta jumped down off the car. She walked up to Glimmer.

“Thank you for your apology. We appreciate that you have realized the error in your ways but we would not like to associate ourselves with you at this time.” The way Entrapta spoke made her sound like she was reading from a dialogue prompter. Glimmer nodded.

“I understand that.” Glimmer smiled, standing up on her tippy toes to wave at Scorpia. Scorpia waved back with a matching smile. “Have a good day!”

“You too!” Scorpia replied. Entrapta gave her a small smile.

Glimmer turned to go. “Wait!” Entrapta said, reaching a hand out but not touching her. Glimmer turned back to her. “Have you seen Catra?”

“Uh, no. Not today. Why, have you not?” Entrapta shook her head.

“Nope.”

Glimmer frowned.

“Well, I’ll keep an eye out and tell her you’re looking for her if you see her.” Entrapta smiled.

“Thanks!” she called as Glimmer walked away.

Glimmer let out a breath she didn’t know she was holding.

“See, that wasn’t so bad. At least they don't’ hate you. And you meant your apology! I’m proud of you, Glimmer,” she whispered to herself. She had a skip in her step as she walked to her next class.

…

“Look at what I found!” Bow exclaimed as he jumped onto Adora’s couch.

“What’s that?” Adora looked up from the project she was working on for her Physics class. 

“A photo album, duh.” Bow rolled his eyes and Adora recognized the book he was holding. It was a purple photo album that held a lot of her elementary school and middle school pictures. She snatched it from him.

“We shouldn’t look at this.” Bow raised an eyebrow at her and smiled.

“Why? What’s in there you don’t want me to see?” Bow reached over and Adora held the book just out of his reach. Eventually, he grabbed it though and Adora let it go. Bow moved to sit next to her and held the book in his lap, opening it.

The first picture on the inside was Adora and Adam on the first day of third grade. Bow snickered.

“The ponytail is long-lived, ey?” He reached up and lightly bat at her ponytail. Adora pushed his hand away in response with a smile.

“Yeah, circa 2007 baby.” They both laughed at that.

On another page, Adora, Mara, and Catra were drawing with chalk in Adora’s driveway. They couldn’t have been older than five and six.

“That was right after Mara moved into the neighborhood. Catra thought that she was like, the coolest person ever because her bike had a basket  _ and  _ a bell on it.” Adora giggled and Bow laughed.

“Well to be fair, Mara is awesome.” Bow nodded. “And so are bells.”

Bow flipped the page and was met with a picture of Adora and Catra sitting at a table in what looked like a classroom, crafting with popsicle sticks. Adora had a drop of glue on her nose and Catra had multiple sticks stuck in the mane she called hair.

“When did you meet Catra anyway?” Bow asked. Adora hummed.

“Age four. Gymnastics. She was better than me and I didn’t like that, so we hated each other. Then we were in the same kindergarten class and became best friends.” Adora rattled off the information like she would to a relative she didn’t know. 

“Wow. You two go way back.” Adora nodded.

“Yep. Catra and Adora. Adora and Catra. Every day since we were five.” Adora’s smile faded and she pulled her knees up to her chest and sniffled, memories of happier times coming flooding back.

“Hey, hey, don’t cry. Umm… Do you wanna hear about how I met Glimmer?! Well, it was a Monday. We were in first grade, and she got in trouble for talking while the teacher was, so she moved her to sit next to me because I was quiet. Turns out, Glimmer can’t be quiet no matter who she sits next to. She ended up getting us both landed in the time out corner.” Bow laughed. Adora sniffed again, then giggled. “You know how everyone started spelling my name differently? It’s actually spelled B-O, but on the first Valentine's Day we were friends, Glimmer spelled it wrong on the card she made for me. She spelled it like in rainbow, and when I hung the card up on the fridge I guess it just stuck.” Bow laughed. “At least it wasn’t as bad as how Perfuma got her name. She spilled an entire bottle of lavender and rose perfume in her backpack one day. The whole school smelled like flowers for two weeks!” Adora laughed.

“I remember that. The smell always gave Catra a headache. Didn’t know it was Perfuma who spilled it though.” They two sat in silence for a few moments before Adora broke it. “Wanna know how we started calling Catra, well, Catra?” Adora asked. Bow nodded eagerly. “Well, when we were little, I had a gap between my two front teeth. Saying Katherine was really hard, and she used to always wear this headband with black cat ears on it, so I started calling her Catra. Even when my adult teeth came in and I could say her name right, she said that she didn’t like it anymore and wanted to be called Catra. So everyone started calling her Catra and she’s never wanted to go back… even now that we aren’t friends anymore...” Adora trailed off, looking at her project. She shook her head. “Ugh, I’m so emotional today.” Adora shook her head and let out a watery laugh.

“It’s okay to be sad, Adora. You miss your friend.” Bow closed the album and rested a hand on Adora’s arm.

“It’s been over three months, I should be over it by now. She’s clearly moved on. I shouldn’t still be crying about it.” Adora bit her lip, trying to shake the image of Catra crying in the bathroom on her birthday from her head.

Bow hummed in thought.    
“You know Mermista cried on her first day of sixth grade?” Bow asked. Adora’s eyes widened.

“Sixth grade?!”

“Yeah.” Bow nodded. “She had just moved here from Miami. I think it was around December. The teacher made her stand up and talk about what it was like there and she ended up crying remembering it. She was so embarrassed, I felt so bad. Everybody whispered about her for like a month.”

Adora gasped. “That’s awful. She was already homesick and then everyone just made fun of her…” Bow nodded.

“It was pretty horrible. Middle schoolers are mean. Even Glimmer talked bad about her and she wasn’t in the class when it happened. But the point is, I think if even a girl like Mermista has had her weak moments, you can too.”

Adora wiped at her eyes and huffed. “Maybe.” She leaned back against the couch and crossed her arms over her chest. They heard the door open and keys jingle.

“Hey!” Adam called as he walked in.

“Hey!” Bow called back. Adora just waved as her twin walked through the room.

Adora looked between Adam and Bow. 

“It’s been a long day. Wanna go get ice cream?” she asked. Adam groaned.

“I JUST got home!” Adam groaned.

“Of course!” Bow exclaimed.

Adora laughed, standing up.

“Fine, suit yourself. Come on, Bow.” Adora grabbed Bow’s hand and pulled him with her. She walked over to Adam and grabbed the keys from him. The two were almost out the door before Adam yelled:

“Hey! Well if you’re going I’m coming too!”

Adora rolled her eyes.

“Well, then come on!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Realizing quickly that I have a really hard time writing Entrapta… and Glimmer.  
> Thank you to everyone who’s been here since this was The Last Great Rebels of Etheria High! It’s officially been two months since the first chapter of this story went up! Thank you to every nice comment, kudo, and bookmark. I love you guys!


	17. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CW/ Underage drinking; underage smoking (weed); hints at child abuse and neglect; sexual innuendo; strong language (stronger than usual, Mermista has opinions.)
> 
> Happy New Year! Here’s to a better 2021 (fingers aren’t crossed). Thank you all so much for 2000 hits!! I think this is my favorite chapter so far. Enjoy!

“Can you guys believe it’s already Thanksgiving break?” Adora asked as she set her tray down at the lunch table.

“Not yet, we still have three more periods,” Perfuma said. Mermista groaned.

“Nobody wants your negativity here, Perfuma.” 

Perfuma scoffed then pouted. Mermista smirked and went back to painting her nails.

“Somebody’s in a mood today,” Frosta commented, snickering. Mermista rolled her eyes from where she was sitting in Sea Hawk’s lap.

“Oh fuck off, child.”

Frosta giggled.

“You’re gonna get in trouble with that language one of these days,” Sea Hawk chided. 

“They can shove it up their asses,” she said nonchalantly as she blew on her nails. Everyone laughed.

“Well, what are you guys planning to do over the break?” Bow asked.

Adora held up a piece of paper.

“Guess who invited me to her Thanksgiving dinner?” she asked. Mermista gasped and grabbed the paper from her, reading over it.

“No way! You’re spending Thanksgiving with Mara?! Lucky bitch.” Mermista threw the invitation back at Adora. 

“Wait, what’s so special about that?” Frosta asked from where she was chowing down on a school hamburger.

“Oh, sweet summer child…” Perfuma whispered.

“Mara and Ms. Razz make the  **best** Thanksgiving food ever. Mara only invites her best friends to spend the holiday with them. There’s only one person that gets an invite every year, and that’s her girlfriend.” Mermista slammed her hands down on the table. “I’d die to get one.”

Adora giggled.

“This is my third year going, I think,” she said.

Mermista glared. “Way to rub it in.” Adora stuck her tongue out at Mermista and the blue-haired girl mirrored her.

“Anyway, that’s only one day. I was thinking we should all do something together over the break,” Bow said, redirecting Adora and Mermista’s attention.

“I heard that Glimmer apologized to Scorpia and Entrapta,” Perfuma suddenly said.

“What?!” Mermista whipped her head around to look at the blonde.

“Yeah, apparently she went up to them yesterday during her free period.”

“Well did they forgive her? At least accept her apology?” Bow asked.

“I think they accepted but didn’t forgive, I’m not sure.” Perfuma took a drink of her water in thought.

“I guess somebody will have to ask,” Adora muttered.

“We should have a bonfire this weekend,” Sea Hawk said, breaking the awkward silence they had all fallen into.

“God you and fire,” Mermista laughed, rolling her eyes.

“You know, a bonfire doesn’t sound like half a bad idea. It could be fun,” Bow said. Adora nodded in agreement and the rest of the table followed suit.

“We can have it on the beach at my place,” Mermista said, picking up her drink.

“Will your dad care?” Adora asked. Mermista rolled her eyes.

“He can suck a dick if he has a problem.”

“You really have a problem with your dad, it seems,” Perfuma said. Mermista nodded.

“Of course I do. He’s an asshole.”

“OKAY! We’ll put a pin in that conversation. The bell’s about to ring,” Bow interrupted them and just as he finished talking the bell rang.

“Ugh, okay, see you guys later!” Mermista grabbed her things and climbed off Sea Hawk’s lap, grabbing his wrist and pulling him along to class. Everyone else gathered their trash and threw it away, heading off in different directions to their fifth period.

...

It was nearing six-thirty and a beautiful sunset was cast over the beach. The waves rolled in as the large bonfire the teens had built was burning brightly.

Adora reached down into the cooler to her left, pulling out a canned Sprite. She was wearing a simple school hoodie and jean shorts to counter the cold of the night and warmth of the fire. She dug her bare feet into the sand below her where she was sitting on what she was pretty sure was the bench of a picnic table that had been broken off with Bow.

“Has anyone seen Perfuma?” Bow asked. Mermista shook her head.

“She said she was coming later. I’m 99% sure she’s getting weed from her dealer.”

“Just great, drugs are being brought to this. We’re gonna get in so much trouble,” Adora mumbled.

“We already have illegal substances, what’s a few more?” Frosta asked, pulling a beer bottle out of another cooler.

“Where did you even…?” Adora looked between the bottle and Mermista.

“You do realize my dad is drunk, right?” Mermista raised an eyebrow at the blonde. Adora opened her mouth to speak, then closed it, nodding.

“Yeah, that makes sense.”

“Is that her?” Sea Hawk asked, looking up the hill and squinting. As the person walking got closer, they could make out that it very much was not Perfuma.

“Oh my god. Who invited her?!” Mermista asked, voice hushed.

“I didn’t,” Bow whispered.

“It wasn’t me,” Adora mumbled.

“Not me either,” Frosta replied, a little louder than the rest.

“I would never do such a thing, dearest,” Sea Hawk said at normal volume. Mermista groaned and lightly shoved him.

About forty feet away from the bonfire was none other than Glimmer, who apparently had found out about their get together.

“Uh, hi guys,” she said as she walked up, giving them a small wave. Everyone looked at her with varying degrees of glare intensity. 

“What are you doing here?”

“We heard you apologized to Scorpia and Entrapta.”

Frosta and Adora spoke at the same time, worlds blurring into one incoherent blob. Somehow, Glimmer picked it apart.

“Perfuma told me you guys were all hanging out here and I should come by. And yes, I apologized to them on Wednesday.” Glimmer looked around at everybody.  “Where is Perfuma anyway?”

“Getting weed.”

“We don’t exactly know.”

Once again Frosta and Adora spoke over each other. Bow rolled his eyes.

“She’ll be here soon.”

Mermista groaned.

“I guess if she told you to come you can take a seat, or whatever. I’m going to find snacks.” Mermista grabbed her phone from where it was sitting on top of the cooler and stood up, starting the walk up to her house. Sea Hawk stood up too.

“I’ll go with you!” he announced, following after her.

Everyone sat in awkward silence for a few minutes after Glimmer had sat down between Bow and Frosta.

“So, you apologized? How’d they take it?” Adora asked, breaking the silence.

“Pretty well, I guess. Entrapta said ‘ we appreciate that you have realized the error in your ways but we would not like to associate ourselves with you at this time.’  That’s a direct quote.” Glimmer nervously wrung her hands together. 

Perfuma suddenly walked up holding a bag.

“Hey, guys! Sorry I’m so late.” She slid into the seat between Glimmer and Mermista’s empty seat. “Where’s Mermista and Sea Hawk?”

“Having sex inside.”

“Getting snacks.”

For the third time, Frosta and Adora talked over each other.

“STOP DOING THAT!” Bow exclaimed. Glimmer snickered.

“Okay…” Perfuma said, confused.

“What’cha got there?” Glimmer asked, looking at the bag Perfuma was holding.

“Joints,” Perfuma said plainly, reaching into the small tote and pulling out a case about the size of a wallet and a lighter. She opened the case carefully to reveal six pre-rolled joints.

They all watched her light one, then take a drag.

“Is that weed?” A voice behind her asked. Perfuma jumped in surprise, almost dropping the joint. Mermista laughed, holding a large plate of nachos while Sea Hawk held multiple bags of chips and boxes of candy. Perfuma sighed, falling back down into her chair.

“Yes, it is.”

“Knew it!” Mermista smiled, sliding onto the other bench next to Sea Hawk, who was passing out the other snacks. Mermista then proceeded to stare at Perfuma, eyes silently begging.

“Yes, yes, I brought enough to share,” Perfuma said way too happily for someone who was about to pass out her weed. “Hold this.” She passed the joint to Mermista who held it dutifully while Perfuma lit another one, then they traded.

“Well if she gets one we all get one!” Frosta cried, shoveling a handful of Nerds into her mouth.

“You are a child,” Mermista said, taking a drag.

“I’m a year younger than you,” Frosta deadpanned.

“Exactly. I never said I wasn’t a child. I’m just a child who doesn’t give a shit anymore.”

“We’re literally the same person just in two different fonts.” Frosta tried to argue. Everyone burst out laughing.

“Why? You both have blue hair? I think that’s where the similarities end,” Glimmer giggled.

Perfuma still lit up the rest of her joints, handing them to everyone except Frosta. Frosta leaned back in her chair, pouting. Bow then handed her his and her face lit up.

“Please never have kids,” Adora laughed, looking at Bow.

“He’s never gonna have kids if he doesn’t make out with Glimmer already,” Sea Hawk said, now holding the platter of nachos and was digging into it. Mermista leaned over and stole the chip he was holding out of his hand.

Both Bow and Glimmer blushed bright red.

“Uh… this sounds bad now but can we talk somewhere else, Glimmer?” Bow asked. Everyone else started laughing and Glimmer flushed darker, but nodded, standing up and following him away front he bonfire and towards the docks.

“What’s up?” she asked, taking another drag of her joint. She coughed, clearly not used to the smoke.

“I guess… I was kinda harsh the other day when you came to apologize to us.” Bow awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck.

“No! No! You weren’t. You were right. I was being a bitch and said horrible things. I deserved to be shunned until I could get my shit together. I’ve had a lot of time to reflect, and I know what I did wrong now. It was actually a huge wake-up call. Kinda a privilege check.” The two reached the docks and ducked underneath them. Bow leaned up against one of the poles.

“I’m glad you can realize that. It just made me really mad when you started saying those things.”

“Rightfully so. I was awful.” 

The two fell into a lasp of silence.

“So, are we friends again?” Bow asked.

Glimmer nodded.

“If you want us to be.”

Bow smiled.

“I do.”

Both teens looked out at the waves that were barely visible on the dark sky. Glimmer looked back to Bow and took a step towards him, shivering as a cool breeze rolled by under the docks. Bow looked down at her and lid off his sweatshirt jacket, setting it over her shoulders. Glimmer tossed the stub of her joint down into the sand.

Bow and Glimmer made eye contact before Glimmer reached up to grab the neck of his shirt, pulling him down and slamming her lips against his. She backed him fully into the post behind him and he leaned down to more comfortably kiss her.

In the background, they could hear the faint cheers and laughs of their friends. 

They just smiled into the kiss.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So much Mermista in this chapter. No idea how that happened ;) Also Glimbow is a thing that is happening, I guess.


	18. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CW/ small mention of that thought of being kidnaped, raped, and murdered.  
> Halfway through and things are spicing up! Thank you to everyone who’s stuck around and everyone who’s new here! Only 17 more chapters to go!

“I can’t believe that Adora is into Perfuma.”

Catra stopped dead in her tracks as she rounded the corner. It was lunch and she was on her way to meet up with Scorpia. She felt her face heating up at the idea of Adora liking someone. She stormed up to Scorpia.

“What did you say?!” she demanded.

“Just that I can’t believe Adora has a crush on Perfuma.”

Catra’s blue eye twitched.

“And where do you hear that?” she asked, voice going up an octave.

“Woah, wildcat. Calm down… I heard Mermista and Glimmer talking about it earlier.” Entrapta suddenly dropped halfway down from the vent above them.

“I heard she likes Kyle!”

“Kyle?! Adora’s a lesbian!” Catra exclaimed.

“Hmm… That’s just what I heard from Kadroh!” Entrapta fell out of the vent the rest of the way.

“Who the HELL is Kadroh?!” Catra asked. Scorpia’s face implied she was equally confused.

“Oh, he’s my new friend! He’s Hordak’s little brother and he goes here now, he’s a senior.”

Catra fell against the locker beside her, groaning. She gripped the straps of her backpack.

“I give up.”

“So Adora has a crush on somebody, but everyone thinks it’s someone different?” Scorpia asked. Entrapta nodded.

“It appears so. Ooh! We gotta make a model of this!” Entrapta grabbed Scorpia and Catra’s wrists and began to drag them to her lab.

...

Adora had been struggling with this damn crush since the end of October. It was now the beginning of December and her feelings for Catra had not become less confusing or weaker.

Sixth-period geometry was her favorite class now. Mostly because she got to see Catra. Okay, only because she got to see Catra. Math had never been her favorite subject in her entire school career.

They all filed into the classroom. Catra was a few people ahead of her. She watched her slide her bag onto the back of her chair and set her binder and notebook down on the table. She slumped down into her chair and sighed, burying her head into her arms. Adora’s face contorted in worry.

She didn’t have any time to try to comfort her though as the bell rang and she rushed to her seat just as Mrs. Nessa came into the room.

Adora opened her notebook and grabbed her pen, preparing for their lesson. Behind her, she felt a small tap on her shoulder and then a torn piece of notebook paper slid onto her desk, chipped black nails retreating by the time she had even seen the paper. Her eyebrows furrowed and she picked it up.

_ I heard you had a crush. Everyone’s talking about it. -C _

Adora looked around at Catra, confused. She was once again interrupted by Mrs. Nessa clearing her throat and starting class. Adora sighed.

She’d have to deal with that later.

…

Adora somehow had gone the entire day without hearing about the rumors spreading around about her. Part of that was probably because she had been late to school that morning. But now as she sat in the soccer locker room getting changed before practice, she was hearing it first hand.

“So, who do you like?” Lonnie asked.

“Nobody! Where are you hearing this?!”

“It’s okay, you can admit that you’re in love with Bow,” Huntara said.

Mara snickered in the corner.

“What, do you know something we don’t?” Lonnie asked, looking at the brunette. Mara shook her head.

“No. No way. I know nothing. I just thought it was funny you think Adora’s straight.” Mara giggled as she pushed her bag into her locker. Lonnie’s face darkened.

“It’s rude to assume people’s sexualities, Mara.” Lonnie crossed her arms over her chest and Roger nodded in agreement.

“Get out here!” They heard Coach Weaver yell, effectively cutting off their conversation.

Everyone rushed out of the locker room, the topic of Adora’s crush forgotten.

…

“So, Mermista and Glimmer think that Adora liked Perfuma. Kadroh thinks that she likes Kyle. Lonnie, Roger, and Kyle think that she likes Bow.” Entrapta studied the board covered in yearbook pictures and red strings. She hummed.

“When did you talk to those three?” Catra asked, exasperated. She had a raging migraine and was laying her head in her hand propped up on her elbow on one of the many desks in the tiny closet Entrapta called a lab.

“I talked to them on the way here!”

“I also heard that Bow said she likes someone who’s name starts with a C,” Scorpia said. “And I also talked to Perfuma today and she said she thinks it’s Lonnie or Mara.”

“Really?” Catra asked, perking up.

“Yeah, he said that it might be Glimmer’s Aunt Casta. Apparently, Adora’s into older girls.” Catra snorted.

“Yeah, her obsession with She-Ra makes that obvious.” Catra moved to fully rest her head in her arms.

“Okay, hmm. I don’t have a picture of her. Lonnie and Mara, interesting candidates.”   
Entrapta grabbed a notepad and scribbled on it for a moment before ripping out around her writing, picking up a thumbtack and sticking the scrap of paper that has  **CASTA** written on it in blocky letters. She found a red string laying nearby and taped it up, stretching between Bow and Casta. She flipped through a nearby yearbook and carefully cut out a picture of Mara. She tacked it up and placed a string between her and Perfuma, then another between Lonnie and Perfuma.

“This is exhausting,” Catra muttered.

“It’s science!” Entrapta countered.

“It’s high school drama, not science. I’m going home.” Catra stood up, grabbing her bag and moving to leave the closet.

“Wait, wildcat! Do you want me to walk you home?” Scorpia asked, holding a pincer out. Catra shook her head.

“Please don’t.” Scorpia’s face fell.

“Okay then…”

Catra left the room, speed walking down the hallway and taking the stairs two at a time to get out of the building.

Of course, The Fright Zone was the furthest suburb from Etheria High. Coach Weaver was still at school, coaching practice currently, but Catra didn’t feel like sticking around. The buses had already run, so she was stuck walking. She tried to walk as fast as she could. It was nearing dusk and she was a teenage girl walking home alone, she was a prime target.

Catra felt her nerves working up as she thought about being kidnapped, raped, possibly murdered. She stopped, then took a deep breath to calm down. She was shaking and felt a tear rolling down her face. Somehow she didn’t think that it was the idea of being murdered that was making her cry.

Catra steadied herself and continued to walk.

She managed to reach her house without incident, just the feeling of her intensified headache and shaking knees leaving her feeling sick.

She raced to her room as fast as she could, throwing down her bag and crashing into her bed. She just wanted to sleep for three years.

The thought of Adora wouldn’t let her though. She hugged her pillow against her chest tighter. She heard her phone buzz from her backpack. She groaned, slowly getting up to check it.

_ From: Scorpia _

_ Are you okay? Did you get home okay? I can come over if you want! _

Catra felt her anger surge. She didn’t know why. Her thumbs were moving before her brain could process it.

_ From: Me _

_ LEAVE ME ALONE! I DON”T WANT YOU HERE! EVER! _

Catra hit send and threw her phone down to the ground, climbing back into bed as tears fell down her face. She didn't even bother to read what Scorpia had sent back when her phone vibrated face down on the ground.


	19. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CW/ Hints at child abuse
> 
> Who can spot the Amity reference in this chapter? ;) Catra is a Swiftie confirmed. Why? Cause I’m one. This is my story and I’m allowed to geek out about Taylor Swift and tours I didn’t get to go to.

Adora didn’t know what to think about the rumors spreading around about her. She had heard that she had a crush on everyone from Bow to Glimmer’s Aunt Casta!

Nobody could know that it was actually Catra Weaver, because then Catra would find out and be angry at Adora for something she couldn’t control and Adora would solidify never getting Catra back.

So she kept all her bottled up feelings to herself. The only person who knew her secret was Mara, and Adora was assured that it was safe with her. When people asked her who she liked, she always said that it was nobody.

She still didn’t know who started the rumors. She remembered a little drawing in her science notebook that could have spurred them, a  **C + A** surrounded by little hearts, but she couldn’t think of anyone who would have seen that and started talking about it. Mermista was in the class, but she would never spread a rumor like that, would she? 

Adora sighed, getting the attention of Bow and Glimmer, who were being lovey-dovey idiots in the hall during passing period. They were between sixth and seventh period and Catra had been absent from geometry, strangely. Even without her being around, Adora couldn’t get her off her mind.

“You guys are gross,” Adora said, scrunching up her nose.

“You’ll understand when you fall in love,” Glimmer said. Adora was caught off guard.

“Love?! Who said anything about love?! I’m not in love!” She was already done talking by the time her brain had caught up with what Glimmer said. Glimmer narrowed her eyes at Adora.

“Are you okay? You’re acting weird.”   
“I’m fine! Oh look at the time, I gotta go!” Adora glanced at the clock conveniently above Bow and Glimmer’s heads before running off for her last class of the day.

Bow and Glimmer exchange a confused look as they watched Adora run away.

…

Catra hated winter break. Absolutely hated it.

It was two weeks of no school. Most kids would be excited about that, but not Catra. Two weeks of no school meant two weeks of being stuck at home with Shadow Bitch, and Catra could think of a million things she’d rather do than that.

The first day was never the worst. Catra always hid away in her room, sketching or writing at her desk as the time passed quickly outside.

Her room was her safe haven. It was only 100 square feet, but it was her space, and she loved it. She covered the walls in posters and the ugly carpet with a soft rug. She filled drawers with her art supplies and lined a bookshelf with her favorite books and little knick-knacks. She felt safe in her room. She would lock the door, turn on some music, and could almost pretend that Shadow Bitch didn’t exist. She could pretend that she lived in a good, loving family and that her relationships weren’t falling apart around her.

Catra carefully set the needle of her record player down on the record that was still there from the day before after dusting it off. It was a little black suitcase player she had found at a thrift shop. While it wasn’t the prettiest, being covered in sticker residue she had tried her best to get off and a few paint splatters that just wouldn’t lift, it still worked and provided her a little escape. Most of her records had been gifts from Adora and they were all Taylor Swift. Call her basic, but the girl could write a song.

The record playing was side B of Speak Now. Catra hummed, mouthing the words without even thinking about it. The lyrics had become ingrained in her over the years.

Catra thought back to her first concert. 2015. She was 13 when she and Adora went to see Taylor’s 1989 tour in Los Angeles. It was easily the best night of her life. They hadn’t been super close, but it had been perfect. She never thought that it could have been topped, but going to see reputation live was an out-of-body experience. That had been just last year, she was 15 and thought that she had her life on track, that she and Adora would be best friends forever and go to see every Taylor Swift concert for as long as she toured.

But now she was 16 and knew that that wasn’t how the world worked. The world was cruel and mean. It tore you down over and over again. It ripped you away from what you loved most and made sure you would never get it back. 

She knew that now.

Catra sighed, feeling tears threatening to spill. She grabbed the pillow laying beside her and threw it over her face.

That’s when she heard the front door slam close. She jumped, startled. She slowly set the pillow aside and moved to turn off her record, setting down the needle as gently as possible.

She contemplated going out, seeing what was wrong, but the smart part of her brain told her to just stay in her room. She reached over and locked her door before practically running back to the safety of her bed.

She hid underneath the covers, phone held close to her chest. This was a regular routine, but it still scared her. She hoped that her ‘mother’ would just sit in the living room and drink her wine and leave her alone.

Catra’s phone buzzed in her hand as she received a text. She looked down at the screen.

It was Scorpia. Catra gulped. After her outburst last week, they hadn’t talked at all.

_ From: Scorpia _

_ Entrapta and I are going to the mall. Do you wanna come? _

Scorpia was inviting her out? Why? Catra was awful to her. She didn’t deserve the escape from her hell of a home. 

Outside, she heard the TV playing and the sound of bottles clanking in the kitchen. Catra looked towards the window. Despite it being December, it was still warm outside in California, she could sneak out easily with hopefully no repercussions.

_ From: Me _

_ Yeah, sure. _

Just as Catra sent her message another came in.

_ From: Scorpia _

_ Entrapta can pick you up at the end of your street if you need her to. She’s coming to get me too. _

_ From: Me _

_ Yeah, that sounds good. I’ll be ready in five. _

Catra crawled out from under her covers and quickly cleaned up her room before pulling on her hoodie. She slipped on her sneakers and grabbed a small bag, pulling in her wallet, phone, and house keys. She opened up her window and clambered out, dropping down to the grass below. She left it open so she could get back inside when she came home. Catra made her way towards the end of the street, the hand holding her bag shaking. She stilled it, taking a deep breath.

Entrapta’s car pulled up to the stop sign Catra was waiting at, cutting off her thoughts. 

She climbed into the backseat, slipping into the mindless conversation happening. She reminded herself that it was better if she didn’t have to be alone with her thoughts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Catra is definitely my self-insert after this chapter. Next time we’re having a new character introduced! Any guesses as to who it is?


	20. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CW/ Child abuse (graphic); strong language.
> 
> Yes I’m stealing Dylan Taylor from alysurr (Ao3, Instagram, & Tumblr), credits go to her and her story Pandemonium for that.
> 
> Today on Teenage Wasteland: Mermista becomes a major plot point in a story that isn’t about her, again! Can you tell who my favorite character is yet? Plot twist, it’s actually Adora.
> 
> I also made a map of all the different suburbs and their layout in Etheria. It’s on my Tumblr here: https://noirangel1028.tumblr.com/post/639574582559440896/i-made-a-mockup-of-the-suburbs-of-etheria-for-my

The day after winter break was never any student’s favorite day, and the high schoolers of Etheria High were no different. Their messed-up sleep schedules from break did no help in keeping them alert and awake in class. Adora, Bow, and Glimmer spent all of History at the back of the class, secretly sleeping in small shifts.

By lunch, everyone had woken up slightly but nobody wanted to be in school still. The only thing keeping Bow and Glimmer from leaving was the new rumors circulating about Adora’s crush.

“I thought that this stupid crush stuff would go away after the break,” Adora groaned as she slid down into her seat at their lunch table.

“It did. Then I posted about it to be Snapchat story last night,” Mermista said, taking a drink of her water.

“Why would you do that?!” Adora asked, exasperated. Mermista shrugged. 

“It was 2 am and I was high, I thought it was a good idea. It certainly made today more interesting.”

“It’s totally Perfuma,” Glimmer said.

“No way, it’s Mara,” Frosta chimed in.

“Why don’t we just let Adora keep her feelings private if she wants them to be? She’ll tell us if she wants us to know who she likes.” Perfuma glared at Glimmer and Frosta.

“Thank you!” Adora exclaimed. “I don’t like anybody!”

“Hmm, still denying your feelings I see,” Sea Hawk chimed in as he sat down with his lunch next to Mermista. Mermista laughed.

“Screw you two. This is your fault, Mermista. I know you started the rumors in the first place.” Adora crossed her arms over her chest.

“And what if I did. Somebody’s gotta make it fun around here.” Mermista pulled a compact out of her pocket and a tube of liquid lipstick, beginning to touch up her makeup after eating.

“I still think you have a crush.” Glimmer said.

“Honestly, same. You were acting weird before the break and at the Secret Santa party.” Bow agreed with his girlfriend. Adora leaned back in her seat and huffed, shooting glares at Bow, glimmer, and Mermista.

“You guys are the worst,” she grumbled. Mermista snickered.

“You know we’re right.”

The table sat in silence as they finished lunch, Glimmer occasionally giggling at the displeased look on Adora’s face. Adora herself was trying to remain as calm as possible. Sure, she just found out one of her friends was a fucking backstabber, but she was fine! Nobody knew it was Catra she liked, and she planned to keep it that way.

The bell soon saved her from her inner turmoil as everyone split up to go to class.

…

Glimmer draped herself across the couch in the library, groaning quietly.

“We’re never gonna figure out who it is!” she complained

“Maybe Perfuma is right, Adora would tell us if she wanted us to know who it is.” Bow sighed. Glimmer hummed.

“That’s boring.”

“Why are we even in the library? It’s not like we’re gonna find any clues here. We’re just gonna catch my dad’s wrath for being loud.” Bow glanced over at where his dad, Lance (AKA the school librarian) was checking in the returned books. Glimmer pouted.

“You think it’s even someone in the school?”

“Who knows.”

“Adora!”

Bow rolled his eyes.

“Well, she’s not gonna tell us. We should just drop it. Mermista probably made it all up to create drama, or whatever she’s trying to do. She’s like that, a bitch for no reason sometimes.” Glimmer scoffed. “Why are you offended by that? You don’t even really like her!”

“Ugh, I don’t even know anymore.” Glimmer slammed her head down onto the table. “Maybe it’s Huntara. Adora could have a thing for muscles.” Bow laughed at that.

“Adora would never be this flustered over Huntara.”

Glimmer groaned in defeat. “I think I give up.” Bow raised an eyebrow at her slumped over form.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. I don’t wanna know if it is my aunt anyway.”

Bow laughed loudly before being shushed by Mr. Lance. Bow smiled sheepishly, looking back down to his book.

...

Catra was in a familiar situation.

She was in her bedroom, curled up under the covers, shivering and hiding from the woman who had just arrived home. She heard a door slam somewhere in the house.

“Katherine!!”

Catra bit her lip, then fake coughed. She heard footsteps coming towards her door. She burrowed further under her covers.

Coach Weaver began to bang on her door. “Open up this door, Katherine!”

“I’m sick!” Catra groaned, trying to sound nasally.

“I don’t care, open this door!” Catra could tell just by her words that she was tipsy. Catra pulled the hood of her hoodie over her head and crawled out of her blanket cocoon, crossing the room and unlocking her door. The second she did, it slammed into her as Coach Weaver opened it, hitting her directly in the face.

“Oww!” Catra rubbed her nose, hoping it wasn’t broken. She took a step back just as Shadow Bitch swung at her. Catra ducked just in time.

“Hey! What did I ever do to you!” Catra cried. She was slowly being backed into her wall. She didn’t get a response, just a punch to the stomach. Catra doubled over. “Stop!”

Coach Weaver didn’t stop. Instead, she continued to beat the teenager. She knocked Catra to the ground, kicked her, pulled her hair, punched her face, and used her heeled boot to step on her ankle. Catra just cried, loud harsh wails filling the house. She didn’t know what else to do, she was in so much pain. Catra shakily brought her arms up to cover her head as the older woman walked away without another word, leaving her on the ground of her bedroom.

Catra didn’t dare scream like she wanted to. That would just invite her back in to hurt her more. Instead, she laid on the floor, coughing while tears rolled down her face. This was by far one of the worst beatings she had ever taken.

She continued to cry on her floor for a while; Catra didn’t know how long, it could have been ten minutes or three hours. When she was out of tears, she painfully picked herself up. She limped towards her window and struggled to push it open. Her shoulder throbbed, her face burned, her stomach hurt and her ankle felt broken or at least sprained. She finally got it open. The next step was to get out of it. She grabbed her emergency bag off the floor below the window and tossed it out, trying to be quiet. She hissed in pain at the movement of throwing something.

She used her okay leg to push herself up onto the window sill. Once she was on it, she realized that her phone was still on her bed. She scooted to the edge of the sill, reaching out and grabbing her shitty old phone. She held it close to her chest and continued on her mission to get out the window. As carefully and quietly as she could, she swung her legs out the open window. She ended up falling out of it, crashing to the ground with a small cry. She landed on her back, twisting like a cat midair thankfully. Catra laid there, sobbing in pain. It took Catra a good few minutes to get back up on her feet, of which only one she was able to walk on. She was only wearing socks and the grass felt weird on her feet but she pushed through, picking up her bag from the ground. 

Catra limped around the side of the yard, opening the gate and hopping on one foot as fast as she could away from the house. It was nearing nightfall. She didn’t really know where she was going, but hopefully far away from Shadow Bitch.

She made it to the alleyway to the side of her block after almost half an hour. Catra collapsed against the wall, panting while tears streamed down her face. She let her head drop, letting out a small scream accompanied by more crying.

“Why’re you crying, Darling,” a voice spoke. Catra looked up, mismatched eyes searching for the source of the voice in the dark.

“Wh-who’s there?!” Catra asked. She couldn’t run or fight back, she was terrified.

“Calm down, Kitten. I’m not gonna attack you.” A kid her age with long blonde hair and striking green eyes stepped out of the shadows. They pouted in pity at her.

“You look beat up,” they commented. Catra snarled.

“Are you just gonna taunt me?”

“No, didn’t plan on it. You look sad enough.” Looking at Catra’s current condition they had the audacity to smile directly in her face.

“Who are you?” Catra asked. She tried to look intimidating but contorting her face hurt too much and she went back to a neutral expression.

“Call me Double Trouble!” They exclaimed theatrically. Catra snorted.

“That’s a stupid name.”

Double Trouble inspected her. “You’re one to talk,  _ Catra. _ ” Catra hated the way they said her name.

“How do you know my name?!” Catra asked, slightly creeped out.

“We go to school together, Darling. Or at least, we used to. I graduated last year. How did you think I knew to call you Kitten?” Catra’s eyes widened. Her eyebrows furrowed and she inspected them, looking them up and down.

“I don’t recognize you,” she said plainly.

“I wouldn’t think that you would. You only ever paid attention to your precious  _ Adora. _ ” The way Double Trouble said her name made Catra want to punch the shit out of them. 

“Don’t talk about her like that!” Catra defended. Double Trouble snorted.

“Alright, we won’t.”

“What’s your real name anyway?” Catra asked, continued to poke and prod at this mysterious person with her words.

“Wouldn’t you like to know, Katherine?” Catra went stiff at the use of her birth name.

“Don’t call me that,” she hissed. They slipped into silence for a moment. “If you know my name, I get to know yours. How’d you end up with a name as dumb as Double Trouble?”

They sighed, sitting down against the wall across from Catra.

“It’s a stage name, Kitten. My name’s actually Dylan Taylor. Stupid, I know. It’s worse than Double Trouble. Although, you can just call me DT if you want.” Catra thought for a moment about her own name. If you called her any form of Katherine you might as well start running now; it was Catra and only Catra, maybe Cat if you were really good friends, but never Kitty or Kitten. This ‘Double Trouble’ character had already broken two of her rules in five minutes.

“No, I’ll call you what you wanna be called.” Catra sighed, leaning her head back against the brick wall. She cried out as she miscalculated how close it was to her and hit her head hard. She wanted to tell them not to call her Kitten, but she didn’t have the energy to get into her name drama today. Her head was pounding and her thoughts were getting fuzzy, it was just too much work to think straight.

“You’re just accident-prone today, it looks like,” Double Trouble said.

“Fuck you,” Catra said through gritted teeth. She gave herself a moment to breathe before speaking again. “Do you live around here? I assume you just don’t hang out in alleyways for fun at 7 pm.” Double Trouble shook their head.

“I live in the Crimson Waste. I was just in the Fright Zone, visiting a friend. You know that everyone could hear you screaming during whatever fight you just got in? Figured I’d hang around to see the damage.” The Crimson Waste wasn’t far from the Fright Zone. It was a little bit more east of the dingy suburb and was full of gang rivalry. Catra had never been allowed to go there under Coach Weaver’s command.

“Fuck. We were that loud?” Catra asked.

“Yeah. What was that?”

Catra shook her head slightly. “I don’t wanna talk about it.”

“Alright, we won’t. What hurts?” Double Trouble stood up and came to sit down next to Catra. Catra looked at them from her peripheral vision, not turning her head.

“Uh, my face, my head, my shoulder. My ankle hurts like a motherfucker, I think it’s broken. Everything hurts, really.” Catra struggled to hold back her tears. Her cheek and forehead were starting to swell up, along with her black eye.

“I’ll call an Uber and take you to my place,” Double Trouble said. Catra looked at them suspiciously. 

“Why do you want to help me?” she asked.

“Well, would you prefer that I left you here in this alleyway, immobile and swollen? I don’t think so. Stop asking questions and accept some goddamn help sometimes.”

Catra frowned at that and watched as Double Trouble pulled out their phone and called an Uber. They then helped Catra to her feet and led her back out to the street, letting her lean against them while they waited.

“For the record, we are not friends,” Catra said.

“Fine by me, Kitten.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mermista actually does know that Adora likes Catra and she also knows that Catra likes Adora. That'll be revealed in a one shot already written to be released when this story finishes. She told people that it was Perfuma just to spice things up because school’s boring, but she's not so mean as to actually tell everyone that Catra and Adora are in love with each other.


	21. Chapter 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CW/ references to child abuse; talking about bullying; strong language

Catra ditched school that Friday, hiding in Double Trouble’s apartment. Her foot hurt horribly and was swollen now. She could hardly walk. Thankfully, Double Trouble had helped her ice her face and shoulder which made them hurt less. They also gave her painkillers to dull the aches covering her body. She spent the weekend recuperating and trying not to think about Adora.

“I think your foot’s actually broken,” Double Trouble said, sitting down on the coffee table in front of the couch Catra was lying on in order to change the bandage on the cut on her arm. They removed the old one and reapplied the antiseptic, wrapping it up in a new bandage to keep it from getting infected.

“I can’t go to the hospital,” Catra told them.

“Yeah, you’ve said that.” It was Sunday now and Catra needed to go back to school the next day. “Are you even gonna be able to walk?”

Catra shook her head. “I doubt it. I’ll be fine though, I can push through. I always do.” Double Trouble removed the bag of frozen peas that Catra was holding against her face. They inspected the damage.

“Well, your black eye isn’t as bad now. We should be able to cover it with makeup. Your cheek is worse. The bruising is pretty bad.”

“There’s foundation in my backpack made for covering tattoos. It’ll work. Believe me, this isn’t the first time.” Catra mumbled the last sentence. Double Trouble eyed her suspiciously. 

“You’re bad at keeping your feelings concealed, Kitten.”

Catra glared at them. 

“Shut up.” Double Trouble rolled their eyes and handed her the peas back. Catra pressed them gingerly against her face.

Catra was thankful for Double Trouble’s hospitality. They essentially took a beaten kid off the street and took care of her for a weekend. Catra, being the stubborn bitch she was, probably would have tried to walk to school the next day after her fight and not made it because of her ankle and ended up dying in a ditch somewhere.

On Monday morning, Catra got up off the couch where she had been benched all weekend. She struggled immensely to change her leggings from the ones she had once again been wearing for four days now into a spare pair from her bag but absolutely refused help from Double Trouble. As nice as they were, she would never let them help her with something like that. Never in a million years. They weren’t even friends as far as Catra was concerned.

She leaned shakily against the counter, her entire weight held up on one foot, while she applied makeup to her bruises.

“You sure you wanna go to school? You can hardly stand on one foot,” Double Trouble asked sleepily from the doorway. Catra nodded.

“I’m fine. It’s just my entire body weight on one leg, it’s nothing.” Catra slammed the sponge against her face, hurting herself in the process and slowly but surely covering her bruises.

“Well, that can't be much weight, but it still doesn’t look comfortable.”

“Comfort is for pussies,” Catra returned quickly. Double Trouble laughed.

“You’re stubborn, aren’t you? Fuck, fine, have it your way.” Double Trouble left her to do her makeup alone and made their way to the small kitchen in the apartment.

When Catra finally came hobbling out of the bathroom, Double Trouble had made the two of them toaster waffles for breakfast. Catra carefully climbed up into the barstool sat at the island, wincing as she did so. Double Trouble raised an eyebrow at her as they passed her a plate. She just glared at them.

“I’m fine,” she said.

“Are you trying to convince me or yourself?” Double Trouble retorted. Catra stuck her tongue out at them before taking a bite of her waffle. Double Trouble sat down next to her and the two ate in silence. “I think I have some old crutches in the hall closet if you want them.” They said after a few minutes of awkward quiet. Catra nodded.

“Yeah, that might be helpful.”

…

Catra hobbled along up the walkway to the school building. Double Trouble had ordered her an Uber once again so she wouldn’t have to walk all the way to school. They had also rewrapped her foot, this time using gauze underneath the bandage so it looked more like a legitimate wrap and wouldn’t raise suspicion. Despite trying her best with the makeup, you could still see some of the swelling on her face. Her shoulder still ached and she looked like she had gotten into a really bad fight. She couldn’t even get a shoe on her left foot and had to go with just the bandage.

Catra chose to ditch first period, hiding out in the corner of the library instead. She sat in a beanbag shoved between two bookshelves and tried to ignore the roaring pain all over her body. Everything hurt even though she was on a ton of painkillers. Ten minutes before the bell rang, she decided she should probably actually go to class and slowly pulled herself up. Getting her crutches in order was difficult but eventually, she was on her way to her second-period History class. The bell rang right as she reached the hallway her class was on, thankfully.

As she got to the classroom, she spotted Adora, Glimmer, and Bow coming out of it. Because the universe had decided it hated her as of recently, they were lost in their conversation and Glimmer and Adora both bumped right into her. This, in turn, sent Catra to the ground.

She wanted to scream as she landed on her bad foot but held it in. She did let out a small cry though. Adora and Glimmer gasped. In the collision, Glimmer had fallen too but had managed to get back up on her feet before Catra could even process what happened.

“Oh my god, Catra, are you okay?!” Adora exclaimed, reaching a hand out for her. Catra bit her lip and struggled not to cry. Bow picked up her crutches and together he and Adora got Catra back onto her good foot. Catra’s whole body was shaking as she struggled to keep her tears at bay and not just scream in agony.

“What is the hold up out here?!” Mr. George asked as she pushed through the students to see the cause of everyone stopping outside the classroom. Everyone’s eyes were on Catra as Adora helped her get upright on her crutches again. “Oh no, what happened?” Mr. George came farther out into the hall and approached the four students. 

“Uh- Adora and I weren’t watching where we were going and bumped into Catra and she fell, sir,” Glimmer said after being relatively quiet the entire encounter. Mr. George looked Catra up and down.

“Are you okay, Catra?” Catra’s eyes were glistening with unshed tears and she looked between Adora, who still had a hand on her shoulder to support her, and Mr. George. After a few moments, she nodded. She didn’t dare trust her voice to speak. Mr. George looked like he didn’t believe her. Catra pleaded with her eyes for him to let it go, she couldn’t let news of this get back to Coach Weaver. “Alright, come on in. Adora, Bow, Glimmer, get to class and watch where you’re going next time.” Mr. George gave them a look he rarely gave any student and the trio ran off. Students cleared a path so Catra would get into the classroom and to her seat.

Catra had never felt so embarrassed, but the pain she was in helped distract from the whispers all around her.

…

Adora sat down in her usual seat at lunch but didn’t greet any of her friends. Her bottom lip quivered as she tried not to cry.

“You okay, Adora? Listen, if this is about the rumors I’m sor-” Mermista was cut off in her apology.

“It’s not about the rumors. It’s not about any of you.” Adora shook her head.

“Is it about Catra?” Bow asked quietly. Adora nodded and took a deep breath.

“I feel awful,” she said.

“It was just an accident, Adora. Don’t beat yourself up over it.” Perfuma chimed in, having heard of the crash in the hallway earlier.

“It’s not just that. I mean, I feel terrible for hurting her this morning, but there’s just a lot on my mind, and it mostly has to do with Catra. Ever since our fight, I haven’t felt right. I’ve tried to ignore it and hope it goes away, but every time I see her it feels like something is missing. She’s hurt and I have no idea what happened. I should be the one by her side, protecting her and helping her, but instead, she seems to hate me.” Adora sighed and pushed her tray away from her, resting her forehead in her arms, face down towards the table.

Everybody exchanged concerned looks, not knowing what to do. Adora had never been so open with them before

“I’ve been feeling guilty too,” Glimmer admitted. Adora looked up.

“Why?” she asked.

“I was so mean to her. I always have been. I’m realizing now that maybe she didn’t deserve that. It looks like she’s going through some shit, looks like she has been for a while, and all I’ve done is bully her.” Glimmer teared up. 

“Yeah, me too,” Mermista said.

“What?!” Bow asked.

“I talk about her behind her back, a lot actually. Not to any of you guys, but to my other friends I do. Snarky comments about her appearance, mostly.” Mermista bit her lip. “God, I’m just as bad as Glimmer was.” Mermista shook her head and trained her eyes on the floor. “Who knows what’s happening to her at home, shit, I feel like a fucking hypocrite.” Mermista leaned over to lay her head on Sea Hawk’s shoulder as he wrapped an arm around her.

“I think we all messed up. We should have helped her, but instead, we just watched and whispered about her.” Bow hung his head as he spoke.

“I didn’t ever make fun of her. I’m gonna go find her and see what’s wrong,” Perfuma said, standing up and packing up the rest of her food. They still had fifteen minutes of lunch left and everyone watched her go as she went to find the troubled brunette.

…

Perfuma found Catra hiding in the library again. It was the second place she looked after searching for her in the first-floor bathrooms. She found Catra nestled in between two bookshelves, head laid back on the beanbag as she dozed.

“Catra?” Perfuma asked quietly. Catra started awake. She blinked a few times and looked up at Perfuma.

“Adora?” she asked. Perfuma smiled sadly and shook her head, kneeling down in front of her.

“Nope, Perfuma.”

“Oh,” Catra said quietly.

“What happened to you?” Perfuma asked.

“Why do you want to know?” Catra snapped back defensively. 

Perfuma rolled her eyes. She knew Catra would be tricky.

“I want to help you. You’re hurting, inside and out. What’s wrong? What put you on crutches? You’re not even in a cast.” Perfuma looked from Catra’s face down to her bandaged foot and ankle.

“I got into a fight. They knocked me to the ground and stepped on my ankle.” Catra admitted. Perfuma gasped.

“Is it broken?!” Catra’s eyes watered and she nodded.

“I think so.”

“You haven’t gone to the hospital?”

Catra shook her head. “Can’t afford it. My mother won’t let me.”

“I’ll take you and pay for everything,” Perfuma blurted out. Catra’s eyes widened. Perfuma watched the makeup on her face shift and could see her bruise now.

“What?!”

“You need medical attention, Catra. Your ankle is broken. It’s never gonna heal right if you don’t get it fixed. Come on.” Perfuma stood up and held out her hand. Catra looked at her hesitantly before taking it. Perfuma held up most of Catra’s body weight, which she realized wasn’t actually much at all. Perfuma thought that Frosta weighed more. It took a few minutes but Catra was soon upright on her crutches.

They waited until after the tardy bell rung, then Perfuma led her through the building and to her new car. She helped her up into the backseat and fished her keys out of her pocket. Catra was silent the entire ride to the local hospital and once there the two girls had to wait an hour before Catra could be seen.

Catra walked out that day with a proper cast on her foot and extremely conflicted feelings about everything going on in her life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How can Perfuma afford that car and those hospital bills you ask? She grows and sells weed. She's the dealer, that's her thing. 
> 
> Uhh, I didn’t mean to make Mermista a real bitch but it kinda just happened and I went with it… Lemme know if it feels OOC for her, I’m not sure about it. I don’t think she just does it to Catra, she’s a little rude to everyone behind their backs.


	22. Chapter 21

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WE’RE DOING MATH MOTHERFUCKERS!!!  
> Okay, that was rude, but if I had to do all these problems then you have to read them too.

Adora always made sure to watch where she was going when she left first period now, even a month after the incident with Catra. She was always scared that she was going to be there and she was going to hurt her again accidentally. That was the last thing she wanted to do

Rumors were flying around school of what had happened to Catra’s ankle. It was the new hot topic and Adora’s crush was quickly forgotten. 

Adora got most of her gossip from her soccer teammates.

“I heard she got run over by Coach Weaver’s car,” Lonnie said.

“What?! No way, nobody would do that to their kid,” Huntara disagreed.

“I wouldn’t put it past her. She hates Catra,” Mara said, sitting down to slide on her cleats.

“Who would have a kid just to hate them?” Kyle asked.

“Catra’s not her biological daughter. She was adopted in the fifth grade,” Adora said, digging through her locker in search of her shin guards. 

“That’s even worse,” Mara commented.

“I bet she just fell or something,” Roger chimed in.

“She’s never been very clumsy, but I guess she could have. Ah-ha!” Adora stood up, face falling as she had only found one guard.

“You really need to get a better organization system,” Mara said as she handed Adora her spare pair of shin guards. Adora smiled sheepishly.

“I could have sworn I had them yesterday!” Mara smirked.

“Sure.”

They then heard Coach Weaver calling for them and rushed to finish getting dressed before racing out to the field just in time.

…

“Why are we doing this again?” Mermista asked, leaning back in her chair.

“Because Frosta needs help and we’re good friends who don’t want to see their other friends fail,” Perfuma said simply, rearranging the index cards she was holding. Mermista rolled her eyes.

“It’s algebra, not rocket science.”

“You cheated your way through algebra, Mermista. Maybe this will help you too.”  
Mermista sat up, alarmed.

“I did not cheat my way through class! I’m smarter than you think I am. Just because I like fashion and makeup doesn’t make me dumb.” Mermista toyed with the hem of the jean shorts she was wearing over a pair of fishnet tights.

“I never said it did, I just know that you paid for a Brainly subscription last year.” Mermista glared at her.

“That was only because I didn’t want to do the homework and hated ads. I know how to do algebra.”

Frosta knocked on Perfuma’s bedroom door and Perfuma called her in.

“We’ll see about that.”

The three teens sat at Perfuma’s large desk, textbooks and homework and flashcards sprawled out around them.

“So what are you having trouble with?” Perfuma asked Frosta.

“All of it! Letters don’t belong in math!” 

“They aren’t letters, they’re unknown variables,” Mermista said, head resting in her palm. She looked bored.

“What does that mean?!” Frosta asked, exasperated.

“It means you have to figure out what number the variable represents.” Mermista examined her nails, then looked at the paper closest to her. She picked it up. “This is so easy. Watch me.” Mermista grabbed a nearby mechanical pencil. 

Frosta leaned over to see what was written on the paper. 

**5(- 3x - 2) - (x - 3) = - 4(4x + 5) + 13**

Mermista worked the problem quickly, pencil moving ten miles an hour.

_\- 15x - 10 -x + 3 = - 16x - 20 +13_

_\- 16x - 7 = - 16x - 7_

_\- 16x - 7 +7 = - 16x - 7 +7_

_\- 16x = - 16x_

_\- 16x /- 16x = - 16x/ - 16x_

_1 = 1_

“See, easy.” Mermista pushed the paper towards Frosta. Frosta read over her work, eyebrows furrowing.

“How did you do that?”

“Order of operations, combine like terms, then single out the variable.” Mermista listed off.

Frosta reread over the steps what felt like a million times. 

“Do another one.” Frosta handed the paper back to Mermista. Mermista read over problem two and sighed. She hated decimals. It wasn’t that they were hard, they just required too much energy.

**-0.25 x + 1.3 = -0.55 x - 0.2**

She touched her pencil down to the paper and began to write.

_\- 0.25 x + 0.55 x = - 0.2 - 1.3_

_0.3 x = - 1.5_

_0.3 x / 0.3 = - 1.5 / 0.3_

_x = -5_

Mermista gave the paper back to Frosta when she was done. 

“Wait- how did you just move the variable to the other side?” Frosta asked.

“I moved it and changed the sign. It’s the easiest way to do decimals.”

Mermista tapped the pencil she was holding against the desk while Frosta read over the rest of the solution.

“I’m going to go make us some tea. Be right back.” Perfuma stood up, leaving her room and making her way downstairs to prepare tea.

“Now you try one,” Mermista said, handing Frosta the pencil. Frosta hummed as she looked to question three, then hesitantly began to work it.

**\- 5x + 20 = 25**

_\- 5x - 20 = 25 -20_

_\- 5x = 5_

_\- 5x/ - 5x = 5/ - 5x_

_x = -1_

Frosta beamed as Mermista read over her work.

“Hey, you actually got it right!” Mermista smiled too. Perfuma then returned with tea.

The three worked for another hour, going over different things in Frosta’s textbook and helping her with her homework. When they were finally done and Frosta was on her way out, Perfuma looked at Mermista.

“Sorry I doubted you, you were actually really helpful today.” Mermista shrugged.

“I’m used to it. People think I’m dumb because I wear fake eyelashes and lip gloss. It’s fine.” Mermista pursed her lips.

“It’s really not.” Perfuma shook her head.

“It is. I should get going. See you later!” Mermista grabbed her bag and headed out the door, leaving a frowning Perfuma behind.

…

Normally, Catra came to watch soccer practice halfway through. Because of her injury, she couldn’t pick up trash like Coach Weaver would like her to, but she still needed a ride home she so was forced to hang around after school.

Adora looked over at the bleachers when they had thirty minutes of practice left. They were doing basic workouts on the field, pushups, crunches, burpees, the works. Catra was nowhere to be found. She usually sat on the front row on her phone while she waited for practice to finish, but today she was missing.

It took them another ten minutes to finish their workouts. Catra still hadn’t shown up by the time they were getting water and practicing passes while they waited for practice to be over.

Coach Weaver dismissed the team and they returned to the locker room to change.

“Has anyone seen Catra today?” Adora asked. In response, she got a murmur of “no.”s and shakes of her teammates’ heads. She nodded solemnly.

Adora made sure to walk back out by the bleachers on her way into the building to leave. Catra still wasn’t around even though Coach Weaver still hadn’t left the field. Adora waved goodbye to her coach as she went. 

“Maybe she’ll turn up tomorrow,” Adora said to herself with a dejected sigh. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mermista wears fishnet tights because she fucking can, alright? She's hot so the schoolboard literally doesn't care, her dad does try to dress code her though.
> 
> Also thank you for 3k hits and 116 kudos!! I love you all so much!


	23. Chapter 22

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CW/ Memory of child abuse  
> And here we reach the last chapter of act 2! This one was pretty fun to write. It’s shorter than most because it’s only one scene and shows where Catra was during the last chapter.

Catra huffed, crossing her arms over her chest. Her ankle was starting to hurt again and her meds were at home because of course, they were. She still had an hour before soccer practice ended and she would get to leave school.

She and Entrapta were in the latter girl’s lab. Entrapta was working on something Catra hadn’t cared to learn anything about. She had English homework sitting in front of her, but she couldn’t focus on it. She was supposed to be writing an essay about _Romeo and Juliet_ but Catra hadn’t cared enough to read the book. She browsed the internet for a synopsis they could answer the prompt for her so she could bullshit her way through the essay.

Catra was good at writing, but she was also good at procrastinating. Her teachers told her she would be smart if she applied herself more, but Catra didn’t care anymore. She used to be a try-hard but burned out before she even got to high school. Why should she try when Adora was always going to be better than her?

Catra leaned forward in her seat, resting her head in her hand. Her crutches propped up against the table next to her. She jerked with a small scream when a crash sounded beside her. She looked down to find Entrapta, her crutches, and a mechanical mouse on the floor. To her half-awake brain, it looked like a real mouse and Catra screamed again, jumping back and falling out of her chair.

Entrapta bounced back immediately. 

“I’m okay! Catra?” Entrapta looked around for where her friend had gone before spotting her on the floor behind the desk. “Are you okay?!” Entrapta circled the table, picking up her mouse before holding a hand out to Catra.

“Uh, yeah, just probably gonna have to spend even longer in this damn cast.” Catra rubbed her head before taking Entrapta’s hand and using it to help pull herself up.

“Sorry, I forget how small it is in here.” Entrapta carefully helped Catra back into her chair, readjusting the leather jacket that was thrown over the back of it from where it had been disturbed when Catra fell.

“What’s that?” Catra asked, pointing at the mouse Entrapta was holding.

“Oh, this is my new friend EKS!” Entrapta set the mechanical mouse on her shoulder.

Catra propped her elbow up on the desk and rested her forehead in her hand. “Do I wanna know what that stands for?” she asked.

“Emily’s Kid Sister!” Catra eyed her.

“You named your mouse after your dog?” Catra looked over at the golden mutt that was napping on her bed in the corner of the room who perked up at the mention of her name.

“Yep! I built this girl to keep Emily entertained while we’re gone.” Entrapta flipped the mouse over and turned a switch before setting the mouse down on the floor. It ran around in circles on the wheels attached to it and Emily stood up, coming over to see the new toy she had been built. She sniffed it before starting to chase it around in the little room. “See? She likes it!” Entrapta clapped to herself, successful in her mission. Catra smiled in support.

Entrapta walked behind Catra as she turned back to her essay. She stood there for a few minutes, slowly irritating Catra.

“What do you want, Entrapta? I’m kinda busy here.”

“What are you working on?” The purple-haired girl asked.

“An essay.”

“About what?”

“A book.”

“What book?”

“ _Romeo and Juliet_.”

“What’s it about?”

“I don’t know. I didn’t read it.”

“Ooh, what are those?”

Catra was alarmed when Entrapta laid a hand on her exposed arm. She pulled it away quickly.

“What's what?” She asked, looking down at herself.

“Those!” Entrapta pointed to a row of three red-ish orange scars on Catra’s upper arm. She looked to her other arm and found matching scars. Catra seemed startled at the existence of them before scowling. She grabbed her coat and pulled it over her arms, struggling for a moment to get her hair out of the collar.

“They’re nothing,” she grumbled, going back to her work.

“They’re obviously something. What happened?” Entrapta pulled out a notebook and a pencil. Catra knocked it out of her hands.

“They’re nothing!” she shouted. Entrapta’s eyebrows furrowed and she frowned.

“I was just asking…” she whispered.

“Yeah! And you were being annoying!” Catra clenched her fists, digging her nails into her palm. Entrapta took a step back as Catra slammed her laptop shut. She leaned over and struggled to pick up her crutches from the ground. Entrapta dove down to help her.

“Are you leaving?” she asked as she handed them to Catra.

Catra shoved her book and laptop into her backpack, hastily zipping it shut. She slung it over her shoulder and grabbed her crutches.

“What does it look like?” she asked coldly as she made her way out of the ‘lab’.

Catra hobbled out of the school building as fast as she could. This involved a flight of stairs and Catra cursed as she struggled down them. Tears brimmed her eyes until she finally reached the bottom.

Catra could only think about what had caused her scars as she made her way to Coach Weaver’s car. There were still 30 minutes of practice left but she didn’t want to go sit on the bleachers and have the soccer team watch her cry. She leaned up against the passenger side door and used one hand to wipe at her tears.

Repressed memories were flooding her mind, things she had tried so hard to forget about.

The scars came from Coach Weaver. She had gotten them on the first day she lived with her. She was grabbed from behind by her upper arms and Coach Weaver’s nails dug into her skin deeply, causing blood to run down her skin. From that moment she knew her new home was going to be hell. The marks had scarred and even five years later they were apparently still visible. 

She wished that she was still staying with Double Trouble but she was scared that she would get in trouble with Shadow Bitch. 

Catra choked on a sob, wanting nothing more than to just go home and cry, wherever her home was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did Catra just burn her bridges with her only real friends? Uh, yeah. We've all seen the show.


	24. Chapter 23

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CW/ Implied/referenced child abuse; slightly graphic injury

Scorpia and Entrapta weren’t sure how to feel about Catra.

Ever since she lashed out at Entrapta in her lab, she had seemingly been avoiding them. It had been three weeks and Catra had now gotten her cast off. She kept to herself and hid from other students, staying away from everyone.

“What are we going to do about Catra?” Entrapta asked one day as they were getting their books from their lockers. Scorpia shook her head.

“I don’t know, but I’m going to try to talk to her. She needs a friend right now, even if she doesn’t want one.” Entrapta gave her a worried look.

“Be careful. She gets mean when she’s angry,” Entrapta warned. Scorpia nodded.

“I can get through to her.”

…

“I could not get through to her.”

Entrapta looked up at her from the book she was reading.

“What happened? Oh, you’re bleeding!”

“Uh, yeah, her nails are sharp.” Scorpia carefully touched her cheek that had been slashed by Catra’s nails.

“Um, I have a first aid kit somewhere around here…” Entrapta began to walk around her lab, searching for the white kit. Finally, she found it. “Ah-ha!” Scorpia sat down at the chair by the little desk in the room. Entrapta stood in front of her as she cleaned the cut. “It’s not that deep. She didn’t do much damage,” she said. “So what happened?” Entrapta asked when she was finished.

“Well, it was kind of chaos.”

*Flashback*

_“Catra? You in here?” Scorpia pushed open the door to Coach Weaver’s classroom. Catra usually hung around there after school these days while avoiding her friends. The room was dark, the only light coming in from the window where it looked like the blinds had been forcibly closed. “Wildcat?”_

_She got a hiss in response. An actual hiss. Scorpia cocked her head to the side._

_“Catra?” she asked again._

_She walked further into the room, turning on the light._

_Nobody else was in the room, but she knew Catra had to be here. She walked around the perimeter of the room until she found Catra huddled underneath Coach Weaver’s desk. She looked distressed. Scorpia kneeled down in front of her._

_“Catra? What’s wrong, are you okay?” Catra said nothing, just shuffled back farther underneath the dress. “Come on, Catra. You’re scaring me.” Scorpia reached out for the smaller girl and Catra dodged her._

_“Go away, I don’t want you here.” Catra looked on the verge of hyperventilating. Scorpia shifted slightly so she could see Catra’s face better. Sure enough, a large bruise painted her right cheek, the makeup that had been covering it melted away from crying._

_“What happened, Catra?” Scorpia asked sternly. Catra just stared at her, face stoic._

_“I’m trying to help you here,” Scorpia said._

_“I don’t need help,” was Catra’s response._

_“You’re bruised and about to have a panic attack!” Scorpia argued, gesturing towards Catra’s shaking body._

_“WHAT ELSE IS NEW?!” Catra yelled, now crying again. She jerked and her hand came shooting out at Scorpia. Based on how her fingers were shaped she was probably just trying to push her away, but in her haze, she miscalculated and scratched her nails across Scorpia’s cheek until bright red lines appeared and a few drops of blood dripped down. She yanked her hand back to herself, gasping at what she had done. Scorpia stared at her, not knowing what to say or do._

_“You push everyone away, wildcat,” Scorpia told her before standing up and leaving without another word. She could hear Catra breathing heavily and crying under the desk as she shut the door to the classroom and turned out the lights._

*Flashback end*

“I felt bad for leaving her there, but I don’t want to keep being mistreated. If she doesn’t want me there, I’m not going to stick around. I guess it took a little too long to realize that…” Scorpia told Entrapta after finishing her story.

“I get that. I stopped talking to her after she blew up at me last month.” Entrapta was sat at her desk now, upgrading EKS.

“I want to help her. I didn’t want to just leave her there, but there’s no way to help someone who doesn’t want to be helped.” Entrapta nodded. “You know, I think we should go back to the Princess Alliance,” Scorpia said.

“You were never in the Princess Alliance,” Entrapta said, confused.

“Yeah, but you were! I’m sure they’d like to be our friends, I mean Glimmer did apologize a while back.” Entrapta hummed, thinking about this.

“I suppose that could be an option.”

“Tomorrow we’ll go talk to them.”

Entrapta thought for another moment. “Sure, tomorrow.”

Across the building, Catra was coming down from a panic attack. She cried into her knees hugged close to her chest, occasionally hitting her head against the desk as she rocked back and forth to try and soothe herself.

She shakily reached for her phone in her pocket. The screen was cracked as much as it possibly could be, but she navigated it to find what she needed, struggling to see through her tears.

_From: Me_

_Can you come pick me up? I had a panic attack and I think I just officially lost all my friends._

She waited on edge for a reply, sniffling and trying to straighten out her breathing. Everything felt heavy in the aftermath of her outburst.

_From: Double Trouble_

_Sure, kitten. See you in ten_

Catra let out a sigh of relief. She took a deep breath and gathered her stuff before crawling out from underneath the desk and rising to her feet, having to take a moment to hold onto the edge of the desk before she was steady enough to walk.

Catra made her way out to the parking lot and sat at the curb while she waited for Double Trouble. Apparently, they had a car the entire time they had been ‘friends’ and decided to not tell her and buy her Ubers so they could charge her for it later. Catra put up with it and forked over the money everything they asked. She was sure this was going to cost her but it was worth it no thawing to ride home with Coach Weaver looking like a hot mess.

Double Trouble’s old beat-up Camry pulled up right on time, as they said. Catra climbed into the passenger seat, throwing her bag into the floorboard.

“You look like you had a rough day,” Double Trouble commented.

“I did, now shut up.” Catra crossed her arms over her chest and leaned back in her seat. Double Trouble reached into the console and handed her a tissue.

“Dry your face, you’re gonna end up embarrassing me.”

Catra rolled her eyes but did as she was told, wiping away the snot and tears from her splotchy face.

It was nice to have someone that looked out for her, even if it didn’t mean anything to them.

…

Scorpia and Entrapta approached the ‘princesses’ the next morning. They were gathered around a picnic table in front of the school, looking bored. Adora was rolling a soccer ball back and forth between her feet under the table, Mermista was doing last-minute homework, Perfuma was staring at the garden on the other side of the quad with her head rested in her hand, Frosta was scribbling angrily on a piece of notebook paper, Glimmer was chugging a cup of Starbucks coffee, Bow was telling her not to do that, and Sea Hawk was braiding Mermista’s hair while she repeatedly tried to get him to stop.

“It took me an hour to curl my hair this morning, if you mess it up so help me- oh hi Entrapta! Hey Scorpia,” Mermista cut herself off from scolding her boyfriend to greet the two as they approached. Everyone else looked up from their little tasks.

“Uh, hi guys,” Scorpia started.

“We wanna join your alliance. Well, again in my case.”

“Really?!” Adora asked excitedly. 

Scorpia nodded.

“Why?” Glimmer asked.

Entrapta and Scorpia exchanged a look.

“You guys seem pretty good at friendship, and we realized that we kinda don’t know anything about being good friends,” Scorpia explained.

“Yeah! Catra was being so mean to us and we didn’t even figure it out until yesterday,” Entrapta crossed her arms over her chest. Adora’s face fell.

“We’d love to have you in our alliance!” Perfuma said before anyone else could talk. “Right guys?”

“Uh, yeah, whatever,” Mermista said, going back to her work and battling Sea Hawk’s hand away.

“Welcome aboard, ladies!” Sea Hawk tipped a nonexistent hat he was not wearing at them.

“Could be fun,” Frosta said nonchalantly.

“Yeah, sure, welcome guys!” Glimmer said. Bow nodded.

“We’re happy to have you here,” he said.

“Adora?” Scorpia asked. The blonde in question was staring at the green picnic table in shock.

“Oh, yeah, welcome,” Adora mumbled.

The bell rang, causing Adora to jump. Without another word she grabbed her bag and raced off into the building, soccer ball abandoned. Everyone else gathered their stuff and began to walk into the building as one big group, now including Scorpia and Entrapta.

“Mermista, come on!” Frosta yelled at the older girl who was still rushing to finish her homework. 

“I’m almost done!”

Sea Hawk rolled his eyes and walked back over to her, grabbing her arm and pulling her, and dragging her inside with everybody else.

...

Glimmer pulled her phone out of her pocket as she slipped into the alleyway behind the school.

_From: Me_

_What’s up with C? She’s fighting with Entrapta and Scorpia?_

A few seconds later a reply came in.

_From: DT_

_Yeah, I picked her up yesterday a mess. Want me to do anything about it?_

Glimmer bit her lip, thinking.

_From: Me_

_Keep an eye on her. Lemme know if she does anything drastic._

Glimmer waited impatiently as Double Trouble typed.

_From: DT_

_Got it_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Normally this would have gone (First scene fo Scorpia and Entrapta talking, the second scene of Scorpia and Catra, third scene of Scopria telling Entrapta about what happened) but I wanted to go for a different approach with the flashback, mostly so I could get in the “I can do this.” “I couldn’t do it.” line cause I thought it was funny. Did you guys like it? Hate it? Let me know!


	25. Chapter 24

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CW/ Child abuse; talk of child abuse; underage vaping  
> For real, it gets super severe this chapter. Not as bad as some others, but the verbal abuse and how it affects Mermista’s mental state are pretty big themes of this chapter. It is skippable if you must.
> 
> For the record, I imagine Mermista's natural hair as Moana's hair texture but shorter and blue. I also h/c her as Polynesian!

“GUYS!!” Glimmer ran up to the lunch table, slamming her binder down onto it. Adora jumped in her seat, leaning to the side away from Glimmer. Everyone looked up at the pink-haired girl.

“What?” Bow asked.

“We’ve NEVER had a sleepover all together! We’ve been friends since August and we’ve never all had a sleepover! It’s MARCH!”

“Correction, we’ve never had a sleepover with you,” Frosta said. Glimmer’s face fell.

“What?” She looked to Adora.

“Uh, yeah, when we were all fighting we had some sleepovers together,” Bow said sheepishly. Glimmer slammed down into her seat, pouting.

“Well, now that we have Scorpia and Entrapta here, we should all have one big sleepover,” Glimmer gestured to their newest members. Everyone nodded in unanimous agreement. 

“But where will we have it? I think last time we camped out at Adora’s,” Sea Hawk asked.

“Before that, we had it at mine,” Perfuma said. 

“And at Bow’s before that,” Adora said.

“How many sleepovers did you have?!” Glimmer exclaimed.

“Three,” Mermista said plainly.

“We should do it at Mermista’s! She’s got a pool,” Adora said, smiling.

“What is with you and your fascination with my pool?” Mermista said, finally looking up from the book she had her face buried in.

“I just really like swimming, and we don’t have a pool,” Adora bounced in her seat at the idea of getting to go swimming. She rarely ever was in Salineas, and when she was they never went swimming. It had probably been months since she had been in the water.

“You are literally a golden retriever, Adora,” Mermista said. Adora cocked her head to the side in confusion, then smiled.

“I like that comparison.”

“So, can we have a sleepover at your place?” Glimmer asked Mermista.

“The boys can’t come,” Mermista said, going back to her book.

“Why?” Entrapta asked.

“My dad’s an asshole,” Mermista supplied. 

“That’s fine, you guys can have a girls' night, and Sea Hawk and I will find something else to do. Right, Sea Hawk?” Bow looked towards the boy in question, who was being allowed to play with Mermista’s hair for once as she was wearing it down, her natural wavy curls falling around her shoulders.

“Oh, yes, we can entertain ourselves for a night!”

“You better,” Mermista mumbled, turning the page in her book.

“Let’s do it tonight!” Glimmer said.

“Nope, not happening. Tomorrow.” Mermista shook her head. Glimmer pouted.

“Why?”

“You don’t need to know my reason. I’m entitled to my privacy. If you wanna do it at my house I get to choose when. Tomorrow night.” Glimmer sighed and sunk down in her chair.

“She’s right, Glimmer. She gets to make the rules here,” Scorpia spoke up. Perfuma nodded.

“Uh-huh. We don’t know what may be going on. There could be something Mermista doesn’t want us to see,” Perfuma said before taking a bite of her sandwich. 

“Could you, like, not talk about me like I’m being abused?” Mermista asked, glaring at Perfuma.

The table went silent. Mermista studied everyone’s faces. She couldn't pinpoint exactly what her friends were thinking, but they all looked uncomfortable. She slammed her book shut and stood up, grabbing her book and storming out of the lunchroom to head towards the quad.

Everyone exchanged concerned glances. Sea Hawk watched her go before grabbing his own bag and following after her.

“Something about her gives me bad vibes,” Perfuma said sadly.

“Is she being abused?” Entrapta asked, whispering now.

“Dunno, but the way she talks about her dad makes it sound like it,” Glimmer said.

“Let’s drop it, she clearly doesn’t want us talking about her behind her back. She said it herself, she's entitled to her privacy. We need to stop prying.” Adora crossed her arms over her chest and shook her head, ponytail swinging.

“Adora’s right.” Bow nodded.

The bell rang and the topic was subsequently dropped, everyone gathering their things and throwing away their trash as they headed to their next classes.

…

The next day was a Friday, and as promised, Mermista texted them early that morning that they were in the clear for a sleepover that night.

Everyone was super excited that day at school. They rarely got together outside of school anymore it seemed, everything was just so crazy as the end of the school year got closer and closer.

Adora hugged her books to her chest, leaning against her locker. She was looking for Mermista, as they both had their free period at the same time, but she couldn’t find her. She knew she came down this hallway during this passing period, and her bright blue hair usually made her easy to pick out, but Adora hadn’t seen her yet.

Adora made her way to the bathroom, sighing. Maybe she would stumble into her in there.

Adora stared at herself in the mirror, bored. The bathroom was empty as the bell had already rung. She scrolled through her phone, books dropped down into her backpack. Nothing much was going on on social media, but she didn’t usually keep up with drama, so that was nothing new.

Adora froze as she heard the clacking of heels on the floor outside the bathroom. She technically was allowed to be here, but she still didn’t want a teacher to find her.

“Why’re you so tense?” Mermsita said as she came into the bathroom. Adora looked at her, then down to her shoes, and laughed.

“God, your boots made you sound like a teacher on the tile.” Mermista looked down at the faux suede black knee-high boots she was wearing. The heel on them did in fact resemble the ones that all the teachers seemed to wear. She cracked a smile at Adora.

Mermista leaned up against the stall wall across from Adora, pulling something out of her pocket.

“You vape, really?” Adora asked as Mermista slid a pod into it. Mermista nodded.

“Yeah,” Mermista said as she took a hit.

“You know that’s, like, horrible for your lungs, right? You’re gonna get addicted and then it’ll slowly kill you from the inside out. I read about a girl our age vaping killed just last week.” Mermista nodded.

“Oh, I know what it does to you. I can stop if I want.”

“They all say that.” Adora looked sternly at her friend.

“It’s fine.”

Adora’s eyebrows furrowed as Mermista took another hit. With newfound courage, she pushed herself off the wall and walked up to the girl. She pulled the vape right from her hand.

“Hey!” Mermista made a reach for it.

“No, I’m not going to let you do this to yourself. I’ll report you to the office.” In her heels, Mermista was taller than Adora, so holding it above her head didn’t help much. Adora tucked her hand holding the offender behind her back. Mermista laughed.

“The office won’t do anything.”

“Your dad will.” Adora hated to weaponize Mermista’s pain, but this was serious!

“He’s the reason I do it!” Mermista almost looked distressed, and Adora realized it wasn’t from having the drug taken from her.

“Calm down, Mista. You’re not getting this back, I’ll destroy it if I have to.” Adora used her free hand to grab Mermista’s wrist. She ran her thumb over her knuckles. She looked up and found Mermista blushing, eyes wide. She yanked her hand away.

“Fine, I’ll stop. Just stop looking at me like that.” Mermista turned away from her, arms crossed over her chest.

“Good. Come on, let’s go to the library.” Adora grabbed Mermista’s hand this time, picking up her backpack off the floor and tucking the vape into it to dispose of later. She walked hand in hand with Mermista out of the bathroom and to the library. Something seemed off about the girl, but Adora couldn’t quite place her finger on it.

…

Mermista’s house was really nice, undoubtedly. 

Everything seemed to have a place, the decor was cohesive, and the layout was large and open, perfect for hosting a party.

It was only five pm when the Princess Alliance filed into the beach home. They found Mermista sitting on the couch in the living room, doing homework.

“You’re working on a Friday night?” Glimmer asked as she dropped her stuff to the floor behind the couch. Mermista ignored her for a moment while she finished what she was writing on her laptop.

“Yes. I’m a master procrastinator and this is due on Monday.” Mermista bit her lip as she went back to typing.

“So wait until Sunday! We have a party to get to here!” Frosta jumped up onto the back of the couch.

“Are you enabling me?” Mermista asked.

“Yes, she is, and you should ignore her. Homework comes first…” Before Perfuma could finish talking, Mermista had powered down and closed her laptop.

“Who wants to go swimming?” she asked, turning around to look at her friends behind the couch. Everyone smiled and nodded, Adora jumped up and down a little.

Mermista led everyone up to her room. It was just a pretty as the rest of the house. A four-poster bed in the middle of the back wall, a large desk in the corner, a gaming set up against the wall the door was on, a huge bookshelf, a vanity against the opposite wall covered in fancy products, a large sewing desk and shelves if fabric lined the last wall, and a window seat made it look like something off of a Pinterest board.

“Woah, I knew you had money, but this is like, rich-rich,” Entrapta marveled. Mermista giggled.

"I didn't know you sew," Adora said.

"I dabble," Mermista responded, but from the looks of her supplies she did more than dabble.

Everyone set their stuff down and pulled their swimsuit from their bags. Mermista disappeared into her overly large closet.

“Okay, that’s bigger than all the closets in my house combined,” Scorpia said as she glanced into the closet.

“Yeah, I probably have too many clothes,” Mermista said as she dug through a drawer full of swimsuits. Everyone laughed. It was probably true.

The girls raced down the stairs and through the living room. Mermista unlatched the french doors and pushed them open. Adora raced towards the pool and immediately jumped in. It was perfectly warm because of the California heat.

Everyone else made their way into the pool, Mermista first, then Glimmer, Frosta, and Entrapta. Scorpia sat down on the edge of the pool and just dipped her legs into it. Perfuma was the last one in the pool. She floated around for a moment before realizing that Scorpia hadn’t joined them.

“Hey, you coming in?” she asked as she swam up to Scorpia at the side of the pool. The other girls were in a splash-off, screams and giggles filling the pool deck. Scorpia looked at them longingly.

“Uh, no, these things can’t really get wet.” Scorpia gestured to her prosthetic pincers. Perfuma frowned.

“You can take them off, you know. Nobody’s gonna say anything.”

“I don’t know… I’ve never taken them off in front of my friends before…”

Perfume smiled at her warmly. “There’s a first time for everything, isn’t there? Come on, we want you to have fun with us.”

Scorpia looked between Perfuma and the rest of their friends.

“Okay, fine, if you say so.” Scorpia got up and walked over to a table on the pool deck and carefully took off the pincers. Perfuma smiled at her as she did so.

Scorpia climbed into the pool using the stairs and swam over to Perfuma.

“See? No big deal,” Perfuma said. Scorpia nodded.

“Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

“Wait, you have a volleyball net?” they heard Adora cry.

“Uh, yeah, why?” Mermista asked.

“Can you put it up?” Adora asked, using her puppy dog eyes on the older girl.

“Sure." Mermista swam over to the wall and pulled herself out of the water.

“How does she do that?” Scorpia asked.

“Do what?” Perfuma looked at her, confused.

“She always looks so… majestic. Always. I’ve never seen her not put together. She even looks gorgeous getting out of the water.

The bikini Mermista was wearing only really did the bare minimum to cover her and Perfuma’s eyes raked over her body.

“She is pretty, but you shouldn’t compare yourself to others, Scorpia. You’re perfect the way you are!”

Scopia looked at Perfuma, face stoic.

“I’m not being jealous, Perfuma. I’m being gay.”

Perfuma blushed at her bluntness.

“Oh, uh, yeah, from a gay perspective she is really hot.”

Mermista hooked up the volleyball net and pulled a volleyball out of one of the bins leaned up against the wall. She tossed it into the pool, watching with a smile as the other girls dove for it. She jumped into the pool and swam over to the rest of the group.

“You guys gonna play?” she asked, looking over to Scorpia and Perfuma. Perfuma nodded eagerly.

“Uh, you go, I’m gonna sit this out,” Scorpia said.

“No, you’re not. Come on,” Perfuma grabbed Scorpia’s arm and pulled her over to the group.

“Adora, Mermista, and I will be on one team, Scorpia, Perfuma, Frosta, and Entrapta on the other,” Glimmer said, pulling Adora over to her side.

“How come they get an extra player?” Adora whined.

“Please, Frosta’s barely a person,” Glimmer said, waving her off.

“Hey!” Frosta yelled, offended.

“I’m just joking,” Glimmer smiled at the younger girl and Frosta huffed at her.

Adora tossed the ball up into the air and hit it over the net. Entrapta hit it back and it grazed the top of the net before falling onto the three girls’ side. Mermista just barely hit it back over to the other side before it could smack into the water.

“Good save,” Adora smiled at Mermista.

“I used to play volleyball, back when I was a kid and lived in Miami. I stopped them we moved here though.” Perfuma sent the wall back over to their side and Mermista hit it back to her while talking. Adora smiled. It was good to see Mermista having fun after their encounter during free period earlier that day.

…

It was nearing ten PM and the girls were sprawled out around Mermista’s bedroom room, a random playlist playing from Glimmer’s phone because she was the only one of them that cared enough to buy Spotify premium. They had already painted each other’s nails and done each other's makeup, ordered way too much pizza, had a pillow fight, and dug through embarrassing photo albums until Mermista almost cried because of the memories of her mother. 

They heard what sounded like a door opening downstairs. Mermista's face contorted in confusion before she bolted up from where she was laying on her bed.

“Fuck! I forgot to lock the french doors!” Mermista jumped up off the bed.

“Could someone get in through them?!” Adora asked. The pool deck was enclosed and didn’t seem like a person could get to it from anywhere besides the inside of the house.

“If they were really determined they could,” Mermista answered as she left the room, racing downstairs to the living room. The other girls jumped up and followed. “What the fuck?!” they heard her yell as they rounded the corner. “What the actual fuck are you doing here?!”

The Princess Alliance came into the living room to find a very pissed off Mermista staring at Sea Hawk. “I thought someone had broken in here!”

Sea Hawk laughed sheepishly. “Well, uh, technically-”

"Say one more word. I dare you.” Sea Hawk shut up at that. “What are you doing here? I told you this is a girls-only night.”

“Well, Bow and I got bored,” Sea Hawk said nonchalantly. 

“Bow’s in on this?!” Glimmer asked, stepping forward.

“Yeah, he’s in the car.” Mermista glared at him.

“You need to leave. My dad will be coming home from his conference soon.” Mermista spun around as she heard a car pull into the driveway, smacking herself in the face with her curls as she did so. She coughed as she pushed the hair out of her face and ran to the window. “Shit, speak of the devil, get out of here!” she yelled at Sea Hawk. He bolted out the french doors and Mermista watched as he found a hiding spot in the far corner of the pool deck. She ran over and locked the doors, pulling the curtains across them shut just as her father open the door and came into the house.

“Misty?!” he called.

“Yeah, Dad?” Mermista asked. She stepped forward and grit her teeth at that name.

“Who did I just see leave the house?” he asked. Mermista froze.

“Nobody, Dad.” Mermista shook her head.

“Oh, really?” Merlin stepped forward and lifted his daughter’s chin to look at him. “I don’t believe you.”

“We’re the only people who have been here all night, Mr. Lovell,” Adora said, backing Mermista up.

Merlin looked at Adora skeptically. 

“Are you sure?” All the girls nodded in response.

“Don’t you trust me?” Mermista asked, already knowing the answer.

“Why would I trust someone who constantly rebels against me?!” Merlin snapped.

“When do I ever rebel?! I do everything for you! All the shopping, all the chores, this place would be a mess if it wasn’t for me! I take care of myself because you don’t care to! You haven’t cared since I was twelve!” Mermista was yelling now. She had enough of her dad. The girls gasped at her outburst. She was on the verge of tears that spilled as she was smacked across the face.

“Do. Not. Yell at me. I am your father!”

“Hardly!” Mermista shouted.

Merlin looked like he wanted to do worse things to Mermista than just hit and yell at her, but he seemed to catch a glance of the rest of the Princess Alliance out of the corner of his eye.

“Fine, have it your way. I’m going to the bar. Put this away.” Merlin threw his bag into Mermista’s chest, knocking her back a step. She held it closely until he was walked out the door, slamming it behind him. She threw it down to the floor angrily. 

Mermista was shaking. She wiped at her tears after a moment. She didn’t look at anyone else.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered, hugging herself. Adora ran over to her and wrapped her arms around her. Mermista buried her face into her hands.

“It’s okay, it’s okay,” Adora stroked her hair, trying to comfort her. The rest of the group exchanged glances.

They heard a beep come from the group. Mermista looked up.

“What was that?” Glimmer asked, looking around the room.

“I recorded that whole thing. We can take it to the police if we need to!” Entrapta held up her phone. Mermista smiled weakly at her.

“Thanks for the efforts, but they won’t do anything. Believe me, Sea Hawk and I have tried.”

Adora looked at Mermista, concerned. She hugged her tighter, not knowing what else to do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So out of our main cast we’ve got two characters being abused, and they’re both my self-inserts… I swear I’m not being hurt, I don’t know how this happened.  
> I think it’s so crazy that you guys see these notes like a week after I write them.
> 
> Adora, come on! She’s a bi disaster!  
> Okay, real talk, this is not where I thought this chapter was going to go, but I had the bathroom scene pictured for a while now. I never thought I would put it into the story, but it just kinda fits here. the fight with Mermista and her dad I came up with with a friend who I have since cut out of my life because he was toxic, but I still liked it so I decided to use it.
> 
> ALSO: The sequel of this story went up yesterday! Go give the first chapter a read!


	26. Chapter 25

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CW/ running away; references to child abuse  
> This chapter is a hot mess I’m sorry.

Catra hated to stare at the blank walls of her bedroom. It was just a painfully obvious reminder of how shitty her life was. She rolled over in bed, burying her face into her pillow.

Adora had been spending so much time with Mermista lately, Catra had noticed. They walked everywhere together, sometimes holding hands. Mermista always seemed to be blushing when she was with Adora too. Catra hated it. She hated that this pretty little teacher’s pet could roll in and take Adora from her. Adora was always giving her those gentle looks and touches that used to be reserved for Catra.

It made Catra seethe with anger. Mermista already had someone to dote on her like a child! Why did she have to take Adora too?!

Catra groaned and rolled back over, grabbing her pillow and chucking it at the wall. She wanted to scream. Tears burned her eyes. She was shaking. Catra curled up into a small ball and hit her head against her knees. She just wanted things to go back to how they used to be. She just wanted Adora to love her the way Catra did. Adora never even spared her a glance in the hallway at school anymore.

Catra looked up at the last remaining piece of Adora in her bedroom. It was a sharpie drawing on the wall of Adora and Catra’s faces, drawn in the childish stick style Adora had never grown out of. She usually covered it with a piece of paper because she couldn’t get the sharpie off but the paper had fallen down to the floor, revealing the drawing. Catra finally screamed.

She climbed off her bed and yanked open the drawer of her nightstand. She pulled out a thick paint pen marker she had bought for an art project she never ended up doing. Catra ran over to the wall and uncapped the pen, throwing it behind her. She began to scribble on the wall, covering up the drawing. She cried, small screams coming out between her sobs. 

Catra dropped to the floor once the drawing was just a haphazard black square and cried into her hands. She felt awful and just wanted this to all stop.

She was so lost in her own head she didn’t realize that someone was standing at her door.

“Aww, Kitten, what are you crying about?” Catra jerked, looking up at the speaker with a gasp.

“How did you get in here?” she asked, glaring at Double Trouble.

“The door was unlocked,” they said nonchalantly, walking over to Catra. They kneeled down in front of her and cradled the side of her face. “You’re a mess, you know that?”

“Yeah, I think so,” Catra spat, pulling away from them. Double Trouble raised an eyebrow at her.

“So why are you crying on your floor?”

Catra sat up and leaned against the bed frame behind her. Tears welled up in her eyes again.

“Adora loves Mermista and not me!” she finally wailed, burying her face back into her hands. Double Trouble stared at her, shocked.

“Okay, I know what’s happening here,” they said. Catra didn’t say anything just cried harder. Double Trouble moved a hand up to her head and lightly pat the top of it.

Catra sobbed for a while, probably almost half an hour. Double Trouble sat on the floor in front of her the whole time while she let out her emotions. Eventually, she stopped crying and leaned forward, eyes falling closed in exhaustion. Double Trouble rolled their eyes but gently picked her up and carried her to her bed, tucking her in.

They left the room, shutting the door behind them. They pulled out their phone.

_From: Me_

_She snapped, I think. She saw Adora and Mermista together and now she’s convinced Adora loves Mermista. She doesn’t realize that this is just what made her break and it’s been building for months now._

They leaned against the door, waiting for the girl to respond. Finally, Glimmer’s text bubble appeared.

_From: Glimmer_

_What’s she doing?_

_From: Me_

_Sleeping. She passed out after she finished throwing her fit._

_From: Glimmer_

_Good, you can leave if you want. She probably won’t do anything else then._

Double Trouble put away their phone and left the house, making sure to lock Catra in, for safety reasons of course. She really needed to be better about locking doors.

…

Glimmer had gotten the update about Catra three hours ago now. She laid sprawled out on her bed, wondering what to do.

So what she had hired Catra’s only friend to give her updates on the girl’s mental state, she was worried! She just needed to be sure Catra was safe or else she would never forgive herself if something bad happened. She rolled out of bed and slid on her shoes, grabbing her car keys from the top of her dresser and making her way downstairs. She checked the time on her phone, it was almost five pm. She would need to hurry if she wanted to make it to Catra’s before the sun set.

Thankfully, her mother was on some school conference trip thing, so she wasn’t here to hinder Glimmer’s mission. Glimmer looked at the calendar hung up on the stairwell. She wouldn’t be back until the next Saturday, exactly a week from today and the start of Spring Break. Glimmer continued down, twirling her keys around her finger.

She climbed into her car, cranking up the radio as she headed out of Bright Moon and made her way to the Fright Zone. It had been months since she went anywhere near it, but today it was necessary. 

Okay, so maybe she wasn’t exactly sure where Catra lived, but it shouldn’t be hard to find, right?

She turned out to be correct when she pulled up to a dead end. She cursed, going to back up and turn around when she spotted something moving through a small wooded section that ran down the middle of the suburb. She squinted, trying to pick out the features of the moving blob. After a moment, she registered long dark fluffy brown hair and a red sweatshirt that looked just like Catra’s trusty EHS hoodie.

Glimmer definitely sped as she made her way around the block. She rounded the small patch of forest and came out onto a rocky, unpaved road. It led out to the southern exit of Etheria. As she got closer she could see more of Catra. She had a backpack on and her head was down, not looking where she was going.

“Goddammit Catra,” Glimmer mumbled. She slowed, rolling her window down. She pulled up beside Catra.

“Catra, get in. It’s cold.” The words were out of her mouth before she could think of what to say. It wasn’t fucking cold! Catra didn’t stop walking and Glimmer inched along beside her.

“It’s March and we live in California. It isn’t cold,” Catra called her out on her bullshit. Glimmer took a deep breath. This was already ticking her off, but she had to get Catra in this fucking car.

“Fuck you, just get in the goddamn car.”

Glimmer reached over and unlocked the backseat doors. Catra eyed her wearily. After a moment, she groaned and stepped up to the car, yanking open the door. She crawled into the seat and dropped her bag to the floorboard.

“I hate you, Sparkles” she grumbled.

“Same here, Kitty,” Glimmer said, but she was smiling to herself. Mission accomplished.


	27. Chapter 26

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CW/ Implied/referenced child abuse; mentions of underage drinking  
> Okay, wow, this got a lot more dramatic than I expected it to. I guess that’s the theme of this story now.

“Hey, did you talk to Glimmer this weekend?”

Adora cocked her head to the side.

“No, actually. Why?”

Bow sighed.

“She’s not answering her phone and I haven’t heard from her since Friday. I haven’t seen her today yet either.”

Adora bit her lip, humming.

“Well, isn’t her mom out of town at that conference? She’s probably ditching because nobody is yelling at her to go to school.” Adora leaned against the locker next to where Bow was standing at his.

“Yeah, maybe. How’s Mermista?” Bow placed a folder in his locker from his backpack and grabbed his history textbook.

“She’s been okay, I think. Still kinda shaken from last weekend but making it through okay. She slept over at Sea Hawk’s last night.” Adora sighed. 

“Good.” 

Adora looked out at all the other students mingling about the hallway. 

“Heard anything from Catra?” Bow asked, somehow knowing just what was on her mind.

“No. Last I even heard of her was when Scorpia and Entrapta came to start hanging out with us. That’s what worries me. She has nobody now.” Adora hugged herself, rubbing her arms just to do something with her body.

“She’s a strong girl, Adora. She’ll be okay. We can look for her today if you want though.” Bow rested a hand on Adora’s shoulder. She looked up at him with a hint of a smile on her face.

“You’d do that for me?”

Bow grinned.

“If it makes you feel better, of course.”

The bell rang, cutting their conversation off. Adora rolled her eyes and straightened her backpack, standing up straight. The two made their way to history class, both keeping their eyes peeled for the small brunette all the way.

…

Catra and Glimmer woke up in Glimmer’s car that morning. They were parked on the very outskirts of Etheria, right between The Fright Zone and Salineas. The sounds of the beach were loud and overwhelming as Catra came to her senses.

Glimmer’s car was one of those where the back seats could fold down, providing more room for storage. This worked well to make room for the two girls to sleep. Catra was pressed up against the wall as far away from Glimmer as she could get.

“Good morning,” Glimmer said sleepily, rolling over to face Catra. Catra just huffed and crossed her arms over her chest. “Not a morning person?” she asked. Catra didn’t answer. “Me neither.” Glimmer rolled back onto her back. “What do you want to do today?” Glimmer asked after not long enough of a period of silence, in Catra’s opinion. 

“Not listen to the sound of your annoying ass voice,” Catra quipped. 

Glimmer sighed. “Fair.” They fell back into silence. “Let’s go to the beach,” Glimmer suggested after a few minutes.

“What?” Catra asked.

“Let’s go to the beach. It isn’t far. Everyone’s at school, let’s run through the sand and jump over the waves.” Catra looked at Glimmer suspiciously. 

“Uh, last I checked we did not bring bathing suits when running away.”

“So what?! Roll up your jeans and enjoy something every once in a while.” Catra just stared at Glimmer. Glimmer sat up and climbed into the front seat.

“I don’t get a choice in this, do I?” Catra asked.

“Not really.”

…

Adora and Bow hadn’t seen Glimmer or Catra all day. It was seventh period and Adora was worrying again. She glanced up at the clock. Ten minutes before the bell rang. Ten minutes until she was marching down to the soccer field despite not having practice to ask Coach Weaver where Catra was.

Adora looked over at Bow who was sitting at the desk next to Glimmer’s empty one.

The ten minutes left in class passed slowly and painfully. Finally, Adora and Bow were released by the angel of a school bell and raced out of the classroom together.

“I’m going to see if Coach Weaver knows where Catra is.”

“Okay, I’ll meet you in the quad.”

Bow and Adora went in opposite directions. Adora hightailed it to the soccer field, sprinting across it to the office on the other side. It mostly held equipment, but

Coach Weaver hung out in there when there was no practice. Adora reached the door out of breath. She took a moment to hyperventilate before raising her fist to knock on the door.

She got no response. Normally, Adora would never do this, but she squared her jaw and pushed the door open.

“Coach Weaver?” she asked, a stern edge to her voice. Coach Weaver spun around in her chair to look at Adora.

“I did not give you permission to come in here, Adora.”

“Where’s Catra?!” Adora ignored Coach Weaver’s words.

“Why would I know that?”

Adora sputtered. “She’s your daughter!”

“I have never associated her with that title.” Adora’s eyes widened.

“Well, she is whether you like it or not! You signed the paperwork when we were in sixth grade! I remember it. Now, where is she?!” Adora wanted to cry. She didn’t know why.

“I don’t know nor do I care, Adora. Get out of my office.” Adora furrowed her eyebrows. She hit her boot against the floor. She calmly reached up to her jacket, where she had proudly worn her team captain pin the entire school year. She unclasped it with a click.

“You don’t get to treat Catra the way you do and keep me on your side.” She held out the badge and after a second dropped it to the ground. It fell with a loud _clank_. Adora turned on her heel and made her way out of the office, being sure to slam the door shut behind her. She walked across the soccer field, hands shaking as the adrenaline faded.

She had done the right thing. This is what needed to happen. It would be worth it soon. They just had to find Catra, bring her home, and everything would be okay again.

That’s just what she had to keep telling herself.

…

Catra laughed as she jumped over a particularly large wave. She was soaked from her shoulders to her feet but she was lowkey having the time of her life. Glimmer reached down and splashed water towards Catra, causing her to shriek as she ducked away from it. In response, she kicked water towards Glimmer.

“I told you this would be fun!” Glimmer shouted over the sound of the waves.

“It’s alright,” Catra said, trying to be nonchalant. She jumped over another wave as it crashed on the beach.

Catra stood still after a moment, staring out at the waves coming towards them. Glimmer stopped trying to splash her and came over to stand beside her.

“I wish I knew how to surf,” Catra said to fill the silence.

“Me too. Mermista knows how to but she would never teach me no matter how many times I asked.”

Catra snort-laughed.

“Gee I wonder why.”

Glimmer lightly shoved Catra.

“I so regret telling you about that.”

“About how you made out with her boyfriend at a Christmas party?! In front of her?!” Catra was cackling now.

“I’m glad you can find joy in my misery,” Glimmer said, cracking a smile.

“I can’t believe that happened. I think you made it up.”

“I’m serious! I was drunk as hell and thought he was Bow!” Glimmer and Catra broke out into giggles.

“I still don’t get what she sees in Sea Hawk.” Catra shook her head.

“They’re kinda cute, and he takes care of her. Like at our sl-” Glimmer cut herself off, throwing a hand over her mouth.

“At your what?” Catra asked, raising an eyebrow and looking at Glimmer out of the corner of her eye.

“Nothing. Personal information. We made a pact not to talk about it to anyone who wasn’t there.”

Catra stared at Glimmer for a moment. “Alright, don’t tell.”

Glimmer looked over her shoulder. She could barely make out the street up at the top of the beach.

“I think we should get going. Maybe dry off and put on some clean clothes and get something to eat?” Glimmer asked Catra. Catra nodded.

“Yeah, that sounds good.”  
Catra and Glimmer made their way through the sand back up the hill to where Glimmer’s car was parked on a small off-road near the beach. Glimmer opened up the trunk and pulled out the towels she always kept in the car. She handed one to Catra.

They took turns hiding behind one of the open car doors to change after getting dried off. Soon they were in fresh clothes, wet ones put into a Walmart sack from the night before when they had gone snack shopping.

“Okay, I think there’s a Sonic nearby,” Glimmer said as they got back into the car, Catra climbing into the passenger seat this time.

“That sounds good.”

…

Adora had run up to Bow in the quad on the verge of tears.

“Woah, what’s wrong?” Bow caught Adora in his arms, pulling her into a hug. Adora sniffled.

“I-I-I don’t even know!”

Bow rubbed a hand up and down Adora’s back. The quad was emptying out as most people were leaving school and they thankfully didn’t get any weird looks. “It’s okay,” he reassured her.

Once Adora had regained her bearings, Bow pulled away but kept her hand in his.

“Maybe we could ask Entrapta to help us find them?”

Adora’s face lit up.

“Yes, Entrapta! Why didn’t I think of that?!” Adora started running, pulling Bow up the stairs and back into the school. She sprinted down the hall and up the flight of stairs to the second floor, Bow barely keeping up. When they reached Entrapta’s lab door, Bow collapsed against the wall, out of breath.

“Remind me to never try to work out with you.”

Adora bounced on her heels, ignoring him. She knocked quickly on the door with much more confidence than she had Coach Weaver’s.

“Who is it?” Entrapta called form inside.

“Bow and Adora!” Adora said back.

The door suddenly swung open, Entrapta grabbing both of them and pulling them into the small lab.

“Wow, this is the first time I’ve been in your lab,” Adora marveled, spinning around to look at everything.

“What do you need, we’re kinda busy here?” Entrapta gestured to Hordak, who was holding a multitude of tools and standing beside Entrapta’s desk.

“Oh, uh, we need your help. Catra and Glimmer aren’t answering their phones and I’m worried about them!” Entrapta’s face darkened at the mention of Catra.

“Why would I want to help Catra?” Entrapta asked, turning away. Adora’s face fell as she racked her brain. Her eyes landed on a pile of tech on a nearby table.

“I’ll let you drive my car,” she blurted out.

Entrapta turned back around at that.

“Really?” she asked. Adora nodded.

“Yes!”

Entrapta pondered this.

“Alright!”

“You’ll help us?” Bow asked, perking up.

“It’s a deal!”


	28. Chapter 27

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CW/ references to child abuse; mention of serial kidnappers and murders

“Okay, so we saw Glimmer on Friday afternoon.” Entrapta put a pin on the timeline she had created.

“Yeah, here at school.” Adora agreed.

“And the last text message you got was Saturday night at 10:37.” Entrapta scribbled something on a sticky note and pinned it up on the board, placing a pink thumbtack above it.

“Uh, I last saw Catra in class on Thursday I think. She was absent Friday,” Adora said, trying to recall when she had last spotted her ex-best friend.

“Thursday, well that’s not good,” Entrapta said, pinning up a red thumbtack. She looked back at Bow and Adora. “Oh, yeah! The red pins are for Catra and pink for Glimmer!”

“Yeah, we got it,” Bow said.

“And Glimmer’s car was first noticed missing by Mermista on Tuesday?” 

Adora nodded. “Yeah, I drove her to school yesterday and she pointed out that Glimmer’s car was gone. We thought she would be here but she never turned up.”

Adora pulled her knees up to her chest in her seat.

Bow, Adora, and Entrapta were gathered in the little lab, creating a timeline of when Glimmer and Catra had last been seen. It was Wednesday during their lunch period. Entrapta hummed as she studied the board.

“It seems odd that they would go missing. They’re so different, a serial killer or kidnapper would never go after both of them, and not at the same time I don’t think.”

“So what do you think happened?” Bow asked.

“I’m not sure. It almost feels like they left of their own accords. The strange part is that it happened at the exact same time. They hate each other, right?”

Adora nodded tearfully. “They never talk.”

“Okay, so, my theory is that they ran away. That seems the most plausible. Or there’s a serial kidnapper on the loose, hmmm, all possible theories…” Entrapta trailed off as she studied the board.

“Ran away together?” Bow asked.

“Maybe!”

“Okay, so how do we find them?” Adora asked, wiping at her tears.

“I’ve got a few ideas.”

…

“Are we sure this is a good idea?” Scorpia asked nervously.

“Shut it, Lynda. Of course, this is a good idea,” Mermista fired back.

“Lynda, who’s Lynda?” Scorpia asked, confused.

“That’s your code name. Sea Hawk, you’re John. Perfuma…” Mermista studied Perfuma for a moment. “You can be Terra.”

“Oh thank god,” Perfuma breathed. 

“And who are you?” Sea Hawk asked.

“Mermista is code name enough,” she responded. 

The four high schoolers were walking through a back alley of Salineas. Where they were going only Mermista knew as she led them through town. They had been outfitted in wildly different clothes than they normally wore. Mermista swapped her fishnet tights, jean shorts, and tank tops for a pantsuit. Perfuma wore jeans and a loose-fitting t-shirt. Scorpia was in a knee-length black dress and a red leather jacket. Sea Hawk wore a simple white button-down and black pants. 

“Okay, okay, so let me just get this straight. You know a guy who knows where Glimmer is and we need code names and disguises in order to talk to him?” Scorpia asked. 

“Oh, the disguises are so nobody spots us and tells my dad we’re skipping school. The code names are just fun!” Mermista smiled. Of course, she would turn this into something out of her favorite mystery novels. The other three exchanged a worried look while Mermista leaned out of the alleyway to see if the coast was clear. “Okay, let’s go.” she grabbed Sea Hawk’s hand and pulled him along with her and the other two followed.

Soon they came to a cute, unsuspecting house about a block from Mermista’s own. Instead of going up to the front door, Mermista dragged them along behind it and down the small hill it sat on to the basement door.

“Ooh, mysterious underground adventure!” Sea Hawk cheered. Mermista rolled her eyes and knocked on the door.

It opened a few moments later but nobody was on the other side. Mermista went in, her fingers still clutched around Sea Hawk’s wrist. She slowly moved her hand down so their fingers intertwined.

“Okay, come on, don’t hide from me!” she called into the darkness of the basement.

“This was not what I expected when we talked on the phone last night,” a voice said. Suddenly all the lights flicked on.

Mermista smirked. “Always one for the dramatics, huh Peekablue?” she said, teasingly. 

“You know it.” He winked at her.

“Peekablue, what kind of name is that?” Sea Hawk asked.

“A stage name. A dumb stage name, but a stage name nonetheless,” Mermista responded.

“It’s actually Prince Peekablue,” he corrected. Mermista snorted. “Come on in you four, have a seat.” Peekablue gestured to the set of couches in the basement.

They all sat around a coffee table. Scorpia ended up next to Peekablue while the other three sat on the opposing couch.

“Uh, I like your hair,” she said shyly. Peekablue flipped the blue and purple hair over his shoulder.

“Thank you. At least someone appreciated a good dye job.” He sent a glare towards Mermista. “She’s still salty her hair got messed up the last time she tried to dye it herself.” Mermista huffed.

“I knew I shouldn’t have trusted your recommendations.”

“Oh honey, it wasn’t the dye.” Peekablue shook his head. Mermista ignored him, pulling out a notebook.

“About Glimmer.”

“Oh, yes! Glimmer! Which one was she again?”

Mermista groaned. 

“Pink, sparkly, loud,” she listed off.

“Ah, yes, Glimmer. What color is her car?”

“Yellow. She picked the most obnoxious color she could.”

“Okay, yeah, that was definitely her. She and a little brunette were at the beach on Monday.”

“For how long?” Mermista leaned forward, taking notes in a shiny blue notebook.

“Oh, close to 5 hours I’d say. I first spotted them around 10 am and they left close to 3.”

“Did you see where they went when they left?”

“They went back up to Glimmer’s car and drove off towards Snows after a few minutes.”

“Okay, so they could still be in Etheria?”

“Probably. They looked like they came from The Fright Zone.” Peekablue shrugged.

Mermista scribbled something down in her notebook then glanced at the watch she was wearing.

“Shit, we’ve gotta get back to school. I have practice in literally thirty minutes. Thanks a lot, Peekablue!” Mermista jumped up, tucking her notebook into the inner pocket of her suit jacket. Everyone else stood up with her.

“Anytime, Mista!” He called as they filed out of the basement door. They had just made it back to the street when Mermista stopped.

“Fuck,” she whispered.

“What?!” Scorpia asked. Mermista’s hands were shaking. She pointed towards a nearby car parked at the curb.

“Oh shit,” Sea Hawk said.

“What’s going on?!” Perfuma asked.

“My dad,” Mermista said, gulping.

“You guys get out of here, I’ll deal with it,” Scorpia said, carefully stepping in front of Mermista.

“Fuck that! He’s my dad!” she whisper-shouted.

“Just go! He can’t do as much damage to me as he can you.”

Sea Hawk grabbed Mermista’s arm and pulled her back. Perfuma looked at her. “We saw what happened at the sleepover, Mermista. Come on, let’s go.” Perfuma grabbed her other arm and they pulled her in the opposite direction the car was facing, rushing to hide a street over. 

Mermista looked back over her shoulder, catching a glimpse of her dad out of the car now and making his way towards Scorpia. She blinked away her tears, hoping her friends were right. She didn’t think she could ever forgive herself if Scorpia got hurt because of her.

…

Catra and Glimmer were at a rest stop in Snows. It had a big, tacky sign out front that read: ‘The Velvet Glove’. Catra was in the bathroom, staring at herself in the mirror. Tears were falling down her face. She wiped at her dripping nose with her sleeve. She was a fucking mess.

Glimmer was shopping for necessities and snacks. Catra was having a breakdown in the gross bathroom with only two working light bulbs.

Catra pushed her hair out of her face. It felt disgusting in her hands. It hadn’t been washed in days. The feeling of Coach Weaver grabbing it and pulling on it still lingered. She sobbed harder. She hadn't been upkeeping the bleach and dye of the front two pieces. Her roots had grown in and now brown framed her forehead while the rest of the strands were a dead yellow from the bleach, the gray dye completely washed away.

She glanced at her backpack that sat in the sink. Her shaking hands pulled open the front pocket and retrieved a blue pocket knife. She clicked it open, then looked from it to her reflection in the mirror. She slowly moved her backpack to sit on her feet.

She took a deep breath then grabbed a chunk of her hair. After a moment, she began to hack away at her long hair. Locks fell down into the sink as the tears fell harder and faster.

Catra worked her way around her head, not caring about keeping it even or making it neat. She just wanted the hair _gone and away from her_. It felt like burning as it rolled over her hands and fell away into the sink. She let out a strangled scream as the last strand of hair landed in the bowl.

She closed the knife before she could accidentally cut herself and stood there, shaking and sobbing.

“Catra?! I got snacks?! You okay in he-” Glimmer cut herself off as she saw Catra. “Oh my god, are you okay?!” Glimmer ran up to her. She slowly took her hand in hers and transferred the pocket knife into her palm. 

Catra sniffed, trying to compose herself.

“This is better,” she whispered. Glimmer looked between her and the shredded hair in the sink.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”


	29. Chapter 28

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CW/ references to child abuse
> 
> Kinda debated on Melog’s gender here, but I’m just going to go with canon and use they/them pronouns. Yes, I know it’s a real cat and not an alien. No, I do not care. Yes, Melog is actually a male here but that's only because they're based on my real-life cat who is neither orange nor blue-eyed but is very big. His name is Monster and you can follow me on Instagram (@lucyk011) to see him.

Glimmer had helped Catra trim her hair to a presentable style and they had left the gas station bathroom looking like total runaways on Wednesday night. They spent the night in the back of Glimmer’s car, splitting a bag of sour gummy worms and swapping stories.

Catra was coming out of the bathroom at a rest stop on Thursday morning when she spotted something out of the corner of her eye. It dashed through the bushes and into the adjacent forest and was gone. Catra glanced over her shoulder to find Glimmer had not emerged yet. Against her better judgment, Catra took off after the blur of movement.

“Hello?” she called. She had stumbled into a clearing after running through the woods for a moment. She spun around in search of the creature.

“Meow!” A cat’s cry rang out through the space. Catra looked around, trying to find the source of the noise.

“I can’t help you if I can’t find you!” Catra called, frustrated. She was responded to with another meow.

Catra ushed away some foliage, looking down and stopping suddenly, foot held up in the air mid-step before she could crush the cat below. On the forest floor was a large orange cat with blue eyes and dirty fur.

“Hey buddy,” Catra greeted, kneeling down. The ground was muddy but she didn’t care, reaching for the cat. They meowed in response. She realized that they were stuck in a vine. “Oh, you’re stuck! Here, let me help.” Catra started to untangle the cat. Once they were free they jumped up into Catra’s lap. “Oh? You like me?” Catra carefully stroked the cat from their head to tail. “You’re so dirty,” she said, shaking off her hand as it was covered in dried dirt. 

“Meow?” They pushed their head into her forearm as if asking for more pets.

“Okay, okay!” Catra laughed, petting the car again. “What’s your name?” she asked. The cat started to purr.

“What about Garfield?” The orange of their fur and large size reminded Catra of the cartoon cat. They hissed in response. “Okay, not Garfield.” Catra watched the cat move for a minute. They walked across her lap and followed her hand as she pet them.

“What do you think of Melog?” she suddenly asked. Catra wasn’t sure where the name had come from, but she liked it. They purred and meowed happily. At least, Catra assumed it was a happy meow. She couldn’t quite tell.

“Melog it is then. Wanna come with me? I’m sure I can get you cleaned up.” Catra slowly stood up, trying to see if the cat would follow her. They had no collar or tags, although they didn’t look very malnourished. 

She started to walk away and sure enough, Melog followed right behind her. They rubbed up against her calves, sometimes making a figure-eight around her legs and almost tripping her.

Catra led Melog through the forest, taking them up to where Glimmer’s car was parked. When she got there, she found an angry-looking Glimmer leaned against the driver’s side door, arms crossed and foot tapping against the pavement.

“Where did you go?” she asked. Catra bent down and picked up Melog.

“Uh, I found a stray. They’re coming with us.” Melog rubbed their face up against Catra’s. She smiled. The anger in Glimmer’s face fell away.

“Okay, fine, but you have to clean them before they get anywhere near the inside of my car.”

“Deal!”

Glimmer cracked a smile as she watched Melog love all over Catra. “I’ll get a towel.”

…

Glimmer and Catra were laying on the roof of the car later that day. It was nearing night, the sun finally just about to dip below the horizon. Catra was sitting up while Glimmer laid on her back. Melog sat contently in Catra’s lap, Catra’s hand stroking their back as if it was muscle memory. 

“And so then, we were just laying around, doing homework, and Adora started pulling her hair out!” Glimmer laughed and Catra cracked a smile.

“She always did that!”

“What else did she do as a kid?” Glimmer asked.

Catra thought. “Well, she absolutely _sucked_ at beam in gymnastics. She was a bar kind of girl.”

“You guys took gymnastics?” Catra nodded.

“She quit in second grade, I quit in sixth. I used to be super serious about it, but now all that training is kinda just a cool party trick.”

Glimmer sat up.

“Show me.” She gestured towards the field they were parked in. Plumeria was a great place to hide out. Catra looked up to the sky. It was a clear night and the stars were just starting to come out.

“Alright.” She moved Melog out of her lap and jumped down off the car’s hood. Glimmer watched intently as Catra walked a few paces out into the field and readied herself.

She flipped backward and Glimmer’s jaw dropped slightly. She managed to do a double back handspring and finished it with a roundoff.

“Oh my god, I just did that!” Catra yelled towards Glimmer.

“You did that!” Glimmer clapped, laughing. Catra made her way back towards the car. She climbed back up onto the hood and Melog almost immediately plopped themselves back down into her lap.

They were quiet for a few minutes.

“So, how cute do you think Adora’s snores are?”

Catra’s eyes widened. “You think they’re cute too? I’m not just a weirdo?”

Glimmer shook her head. “They’re _adorable_!” she squealed. 

“No pun intended?” Catra asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Pun definitely intended.” Catra and Glimmer both laughed. They fell back into a comfortable silence.

“You really love that cat, don’t you?” Glimmer asked once it was completely dark outside. Catra nodded.

“Yeah, I think I do.”

“Why?” Catra shrugged. 

“I always wanted a cat as a kid.” Glimmer laughed.

“Yeah, I could guess. You name yourself Catra of all things.” Catra narrowed her eyes at her and stuck her tongue out.

“No, Adora named me ‘Catra’.”

Glimmer went quiet at that. 

“You guys must have been really close,” she finally said.

“Yeah, we were. Not anymore though,” she said sadly. She sighed, eyes darting out to the field.

Glimmer didn’t respond. She just looked at Catra sadly.

“She was always there for me, you know? When everything was shitty. When I was covered in bruises. When I crying on her doorstep. When I didn’t have lunch money. When I was getting picked on for my heterochromia. Everything. She was always there. She always made it better. And then you took her from me.” Catra spat her last sentence, eyes trained on Melog in her lap.

“Catra,” Glimmer said softly, reaching a hand out for Catra’s shoulder. Catra jerked and pushed her away.

“Don’t touch me!” Catra yelled. The good mood of the evening had evaporated into thin air. 

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to take your best friend from you. I-I was awful, I know I was. You didn’t deserve that. Fuck, you should be so much madder at me.”

“You don’t even know, Glitter.” Catra hugged Melog to her chest and blinked away tears.

“I’m sorry, for real. You can be as mad at me as you want to. I shouldn’t have ever waited this long to apologize to you.” Glimmer shook her head to herself.

Catra sniffled.

“I think I’m going to go to bed.” Catra climbed off the hood of the car, Melog secured tightly in her arms. She rounded the car and climbed into the trunk, laying down and pulling her blanket over her. Melog crawled over and laid up against her on top of the blanket.

Catra stared up at the ceiling of the car, thoughts swirling through her head that she couldn’t process. A tear fell down her face.

Glimmer sat on the hood, resolving to give Catra her space. She stared up at the night sky, hoping she had done the right thing.


	30. Chapter 29

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CW/ very brief mention of child abuse; lots and lots of crying.
> 
> I actually don't have any chapters beyond this written. I've been very swamped with school and have like a million things to do but I plan to get it done tonight or tomorrow so Chapter 30 can go up on Friday!

“Okay, so you have everything packed up?” Bow asked Entrapta. She nodded.

“It’s all there! I triple checked!”

“Are you sure we don’t need to quadruple check?!” Adora asked, walking up to them. Bow reached up and slammed the trunk door of Adora’s car shut.

“Yes. We have everything.”

Adora took a deep breath.

“Sorry, this is just really freaking me out. What if we don’t find them?”

“We’ll find them, I promise.” Bow pulled Adora into a side hug. She sighed.

“Okay, I’m ready,” she said after a few moments. Entrapta looked at her and held out her hand. Adora reached down into her pocket and pulled out her keyring.

“Show me your license.”

“Adora,” Bow said.

“Show me the license!” 

Entrapta pulled out her wallet and showed her her ID. Adora nodded once and pressed the keys into her hand.

“Please don’t crash my car.”

“Let’s go!” Entrapta cheered.

Entrapta ran up to the driver’s seat. Bow climbed into the passenger’s side and Adora clambered into the backseat. Bow glanced back at her and saw her trembling hands. He placed a hand on her knee.

“We’ll find them.”

Adora bit her lip.

“I hope so.”

...

“Are you sure being in Bright Moon is a good idea?” Catra asked from the passenger’s seat.

“We have to go back at some point, Catra.” Glimmer said. Catra threw her head back onto the headrest of her seat.

“I know. I just, I don’t know. I thought this week would be good for clearing my head but I’m just even more confused.”

Glimmer nodded sympathetically. “Yeah, me too.” It was now the first day of Spring Break and had been a week since Glimmer and Catra ran away. “My mom is coming home today though. I kinda don’t want to worry her.” Catra looked out the window, watching the scenery roll by.

“One more night?”

Glimmer thought about it for a moment.

“Sure, one more night.”

Melog sat in Catra’s lap, sleeping as the sun filtered in through the windshield and warmed them. Glimmer reached over and turned up the radio to fill the silence.

…

“So, Mermista said that a friend told her they had been in Salineas, but that was on Monday. I say we start in Plumeria and work our way around the city.” Entrapta drove better than Glimmer, Adora noted. 

“Sure, we can try that,” Bow agreed.

“What do we do if we find them?” Adora asked from the backseat.

“Try to get them to come with us,” Entrapta said like it was simple.

“Catra would never agree to come with me willingly. I know she wouldn’t,” Adora said sadly.

“Adora, all she wants is you.” Bow turned around in his seat to look at her.

“What do you mean? She hates me!”

Bow sighed. 

“She’s been living in a car for a week. I don’t think she’ll be very hard to convince!” Entrapta piped up, looking back at Adora.

“Eyes on the road!” Bow yelled at her.

“Oh, sorry!” Entrapta swerved the car, barely dodging the curb. Bow screamed. “It’s fine, I’ve got everything under control!”

Adora bit her lip and looked out the window. They were cruising steadily again shortly. 

“I hope so,” she finally said.

…

Adora, Entrapta, and Bow had been driving around all day.

“What if they already left Etheria?” Adora asked. She was bouncing in her seat, head swiveling back in forth as she looked around her surroundings.

“Maybe we should have started in Bright Moon,” Entrapta muttered. It was starting to get dark.

“Wait, is that her car?” Bow asked, pointing up at a gas station down the road. A single bright yellow car was parked under a streetlamp.

“Is there glitter on the door handles?” Adora asked, perking up and rolling down her window as Entrapta approached the car.

“Sure is,” Bow said.

“Fuck, yes!” Adora sighed in relief. 

Entrapta pulled the car into the parking lot three spots down from Glimmer’s car. Adora looked over.

“There’s nobody in the car. They must be inside.”

“Should we go in?” Entrapta asked.

“Entrapta and I will. Adora, you stay out here just in case,” Bow told her. Adora nodded.

“Okay.”

Entrapta and Bow climbed out of the car and stretched for a moment before talking up to the door. Adora waiting until they had gone inside before she jumped out of the car. She walked over to Glimmer’s and pressed her face against the glass of the driver’s side door.

“Okay, what the actual fuc-”

Adora spun around and was met face to face with Catra. The trunk door of the car was now open too.

“Catra?!”

She looked so different, but so the same. Her hair was gone, well most of it. She could recognize those freckles and multi-colored eyes anywhere though. Catra’s eyes narrowed at her.

“What are  _ you _ doing here?”

Adora bit her lip. “I’m here to take you home, Catra.”

Catra’s arms came up to hug herself. 

“Why? Nobody cares about me.”

Adora’s eyes filled with tears.

“I care, Catra.”

“You obviously don’t! You left me!”

Adora looked between Catra, then glanced at Glimmer’s car.

“Oh, I see what it is. You want Glimmer instead of me. It’s okay, I get it.”

Adora dropped her gaze from Catra. It hurt too much to look at her.

“Adora, that’s not it, I swear.”

“Then what is it?!”

“I don’t know?! Okay?! I don’t know anything anymore! I thought I knew you and then you turned around a left me! And I still don’t know why. Glimmer isn’t even that great. She’ll never be as good as you!” Catra was distressed. Adora looked up and found her trying to tug at hair that wasn’t there anymore. Adora took a step towards her.

“I care about you, Catra. I always have, I always will. Come on, come home with me.” Adora held her hand out towards Catra. Catra looked between her hand and Adora’s face. “Please, please, please…” Adora whispered, desperate. She watched as tears continued to rush down Catra’s cheeks. Her hand shook as she tried to decide what to do. Adora realized that this wasn’t working.

“You can come live with me and my parents! You never have to go back to that awful place. Come stay with me, you’ll be safe. I care so much. Come back to me, we don’t have to fight anymore.”

Catra choked on a sob. “Promise?”

Adora nodded. “I promise! Come here, please.”

One second Catra was staring at her hand and the next she was wrapped up in Adora’s arms. Both girls cried, hugging each other tightly.

“I missed you so much.”

“I-I did too.” Adora could feel Catra’s tears soaking into her jacket. 

“I’m so sorry. I’m going to spend the rest of our lives making it up to you, I promise.”

“I’m sorry too! I was such an idiot!”

Adora gently lifted Catra so she could hold her closer. Catra wrapped her legs around Adora’s waist and her arms stayed around her neck. She buried her face into the crook of Adora’s neck.

“I wanna go home,” she whispered.

“I’m going to take you home. Come on, let’s go get in the car.”   
Adora began to carry Catra to the car when she pulled away from Adora’s neck. “Wait, Melog!” she cried.

“Who?” Adora asked.

“They’re in Glimmer’s car.”

Adora was confused but carried Catra back to the other car anyway. Sitting in the trunk on a blanket was a large orange cat. “You found a cat?”

Catra giggled slightly. “Uh, yeah. I hope that’s okay with your parents.”

“I’m sure it will be. Will they follow me to the car?”

“Maybe. Melog, come on! Follow Adora!” Catra called for the cat. Melog got up and jumped out of the back of the car, following Adora as she walked.

“Um, I see you found Catra,” they heard a voice say. Adora looked up and was met with Glimmer, Bow, and Entrapta standing on the sidewalk outside the gas station.

“Glimmer!” Adora exclaimed. “I’d run up and hug you, but my hands are kinda full.” Glimmer smirked.

“I can see that.” Adora blushed and was thankful Catra couldn’t see her face. Catra then shifted slightly to look at the trio. Her face was splotchy and tear-stained.

“We’re gonna go home,” was all she said.

And Adora had never been so happy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> While this isn’t nearly as heart-wrenching as Save The Cat, it’s still an emotional chapter. Our girls can finally, finally be happy. But they aren’t out of the woods quite yet.


	31. Chapter 30

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CW/ talk of child abuse

Adora carried Catra inside the house, bridal style now. Catra clutched the fabric of her jacket, fast asleep.

“Are your parents going to be okay with this?” Bow whispered as he carried in Catra’s bags.

“They’re gonna have to be,” Adora whispered back.

“Adora?! Is that you?!” Her father called from the living room.

“Yes!” Adora whisper-shouted back. She tightened her grip on Catra as her parents walked into the hallway. Bow, Adora, and Entrapta stood in the entryway, Bow holding Catra’s bag and Entrapta holding Adora’s.

“Uh, what is this?” Marlena asked.

“It’s a very long story,” Adora said. Bow and Entrapta nodded.

“Really long.”

“So long.”

“Well, could you give us the short version?” Marlena asked.

Adora looked down at Catra in her arms. “Catra’s moving in with us.”

Her parents’ eyes both widened.

“That’s got to be illegal. We can’t just steal her, Adora.” Randy said.

“Yes, we can! Coach Weaver is awful to her!” Adora argued.

“Let’s not fight about this tonight. Adora, take Catra to bed. Bow and Entrapta, take those bags up to Adora’s room and then be on your way, okay?” Marlena asked.

The three kids nodded in agreement and rushed up the stairs to Adora’s room. Adora kicked the door shut behind her once everyone was inside. She carried Catra to her bed and laid her down on it. Catra’s short hair stuck to her forehead and Adora gently brushed it away. She giggled to herself.

“What?” Bow asked her.

“Nothing. I think her short hair is going to take some getting used to.” Adora smiled.

Entrapta and Bow set down the bags they held.

“Do you think your parents are going to let her stay?” Entrapta asked.

“They’re going to have to. I promised Catra she would be safe.” Adora crawled up onto the bed next to Catra.

“I’m sure you’ll be able to convince them,” Bow reassured her.

“Thanks,” Adora said. “You guys should probably get out of here. It’s late.”  
Bow and Entrapta nodded.

“Goodnight!” Entrapta called as she left the room. Bow turned to leave but stopped at the door.

“If they don’t let her stay, she also has a home at my place. We won’t let her go back to that hellhole,” he said. Adora smiled and wrapped her arms around Catra, pulling her into her chest.

“Thank you, Bow. For everything.”

Bow looked over his shoulder to smile at her.

“Anytime.”

And with that, Bow was on his way, following after Entrapta.

Adora laid back against the pillows, Catra wrapped up in her arms. She felt a lot better finally having Catra here with her. It made her feel safe even if she had never been in any danger.

She sighed and reached over to turn off the light, still in her day clothes. She was exhausted. She rolled slightly and pulled the blankets up over herself and Catra.

Adora hugged Catra close. It had been so long. Seven long months away from Catra and she finally had her back.

She wasn’t about to let her go anytime soon.

…

“I don’t care, just throw it all into the box. I’ll deal with it later.”

Mermista grabbed books off her shelf and set them down into the box at her feet haphazardly. Normally she wouldn’t be this careless with her things but she wanted out of this house, and fast.

“How do you want the sewing stuff packed?” Sea Hawk asked her.

“Don’t touch it. I’ll pack it all up last,” Mermista responded.

Sea Hawk nodded and went back to packing her clothes away. He threw her shoes into one box like she asked and didn’t even take the rest of the clothes off their hangers.

They worked in silence. They barely had an hour to get this all done before her father would be back to the house.

Mermista worked extremely quickly, taping box after box shut.

“You should probably hurry up,” she said as she jammed a box of makeup closed.

“It’s not my fault you have so many damn clothes,” Sea Hawk said. She rolled her eyes.

“When I’m done packing all of this setup I want the closet done.”

“Aye, aye captain.” Sea Hawk saluted. Mermista cracked a smile for the first time that day at that.

She had woken up early that morning and called him with a simple request. Come help her pack up all her things and help her move into his place. He had only been asking her to move in for months now, but something finally broke her. Sea Hawk still didn’t know what.

Mermista very carefully packed up her gaming setup. Unlike the manner she had treated her books with, she was gentle with her expensive equipment. Sea Hawk watched her toss a bunch of wires into the nearby trash can. 

After an hour that seemed to pass by in a flash, they had all of her boxes packed and were loading them into Sea Hawk’s car. Mermista climbed up into his passenger seat.

They drove off. Mermista crossed her arms over her chest before her face lit up. She reached into her pocket and pulled out her keyring. She sorted her through keys and pulled off one. She rolled down the window and Sea Hawk watched her from the corner of his eye.

She grasped the key for a second, staring down at it before she chucked it out the window.

“Good riddance,” she finally said after a minute passed. Mermista reached over and cranked up the radio. The open window made her hair blow into her face, blue curls obscuring her vision. She laughed anyway, singing along to the song blasting from the car’s speakers.

Sea Hawk smiled as he watched her. It was good to see his girl finally free.

…

Catra sat on the Grayskull’s couch, a cup of water in front of her and her leg bouncing nervously.

Adora reached over and placed a loving hand on her knee. Catra looked up at her and Adora gave her a reassuring smile. Catra smiled back.

“So, Catra. Do you want to tell us what’s been happening?” Marlena asked as she sat down in a chair across from the kids on the couch.

“What hasn’t happened,” Catra joked. Adora rested her arm around Catra’s shoulders to attempt at providing her some comfort.

“Catra, please be serious. We need to know how to help you,” Randy said. Catra sighed, trying to collect her thoughts.

“Well, um, I guess she was abusing me,” she said quietly. Catra stared at the cup in front of her, unable to look at Adora’s parents.

“Who was?” Marlena asked.

“Sandra,” Catra responded. She rarely called her ‘mother’ by her first name and the word felt weird on her tongue.

“What did she do to you?” was the next question asked.

“Yelled at me, beat me, was generally just a bitch.” Catra leaned into Adora who used her free hand to grab Catra’s hand and squeezed. Catra squeezed back.

Randy and Marlena exchanged a look with each other.

“I see no problem with Catra staying here if her old home was unfit,” Marlena said. Adora and Catra looked up, hope written all over their faces.

“I’m sure we could handle another kid. We can clean out the guest room and Catra can have that.”

“What about CPS? Surely Coach Weaver would report it if she suddenly vanished,” Adora asked.

“I was gone for a whole week and the only people who came looking for me were a few teenagers. She does not care in the slightest,” Catra said. Adora sighed.

“Yeah, you’re not wrong.”

“We’ll see what we can do about custody. For now, you’ll be safe here.” Marlena smiled warmly at Catra. Catra felt herself starting to tear up. She wiped at her eyes furiously. She was **not** about to cry.

Adora had different ideas though. She grabbed Catra and pulled her into her lap. Catra let out a watery laugh.

“Thank you,” she said to nobody in particular.

“No need to thank us, Catra. This is your home. It always has been,” Adora said. Catra brought her arms up to hug Adora back.

She didn’t need to say anything for everyone to know how happy she was.


	32. Chapter 31

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CW/ White boy with no spice tolerance
> 
> I’m sorry if I contradicted myself and wrote Mermista as Polynesian earlier in this story, I don’t remember. She’s Indian now so it doesn’t matter.
> 
> A little late but I had a headache when I planned to write this chapter and have been struggling with motivation lately, but it’s done! Hoping to double update Assorted Adventures after I sleep.

“Woah, your room’s really empty! Did she throw your stuff out?” Adam asked as the three kids walked into Catra’s old bedroom.

“No,” Catra hissed. “It always looks like this.”

Adora glared at her brother. “Let’s just get everything and get out.”

Together the three boxed up everything in the room. There wasn’t much, just Catra’s clothes, shoes, her schoolbag, and her art supplies. They were able to pack it all into three boxes. Adora finished taping up the last one. She pulled a Sharpie out of her pocket and wrote **CLOTHES** on the outside.

“I think I can figure out what’s what,” Catra snorted, arms crossed over her chest.

“Yeah, well, I like to be organized.” Adora capped the pen and slid it back into her pocket. “Is that everything?”

Catra took one last look around the room. She swallowed and nodded. “Yeah, I think so.” Catra picked up the box of her desk stuff that was sitting at her feet.

“Come on, let’s go home.” Adora grabbed Catra hand and held the clothes box on her hip with her other. Catra smiled weakly at her.

“I already am home.”

Adora beamed.

…

Catra collapsed back onto her bed, panting.

“You okay?” Adora appeared in the doorway. Catra nodded without looking up.

“Yeah, just tired. It’s all unpacked though.”

Adora came into the room. “We should go shopping this weekend and decorate it.” She looked around the guest room that was now Catra’s space. She eased herself onto the bed next to Catra. Catra stared up at the ceiling. 

Adora stared at her, studying her face. How every freckle was perfectly placed and her mismatched eyes held so much mystery. She was taken back to that sunny day last July she still remembered it as one of her favorite memories with Catra. There were no signs of the hair dye on her now, but Adora remembered it well. 

“Stop thinking so loud,” Catra said. Adora laughed. Catra looked over at her they locked eyes.

“I’m glad you’re here now. I like knowing you’re safe.”

Catra hummed. “I guess I am safe now, aren’t I?”

Adora nodded, a serious look coming onto her face. “Of course you’re safe.” She reached out and brushed a small piece of hair out of Catra’s face. 

“Promise?” Catra asked.

Adora leaned down and pressed her forehead against Catra’s. A red blush spread across Catra’s cheeks as their noses touched.

“I promise.”

Adora pulled away suddenly as they heard yelling downstairs.

“Girls, dinner!” Marlena called from the kitchen. Adora jumped up and grabbed Catra’s wrists. 

“Come on, I’m starving.” Adora pulled Catra out of the bedroom. Catra laughed and followed her out.

…

“You hungry?” Sea Hawk asked as he opened the pantry. He looked over at Mermista sitting in the living room on the couch She was tapping away at her phone while her nails dried.

“Yeah, whatcha got?” Mermista said without looking up. Sea Hawk studied the contents of his pantry.

“Mac and cheese?” 

Mermista looked up. “If you pull out a box of Kraft I swear-” Mermista stopped talking as Sea Hawk pulled out the infamous box of Kraft macaroni and cheese.

“What’s wrong with Kraft?!”

“It’s flavorless.” Mermista climbed off the couch and came into the kitchen. She looked at her boyfriend. “You can’t cook, can you?” she asked.

“I can make TV dinners, Kraft, and maybe scramble some eggs.”

Mermista stared at him, face stoic.

“That’s not cooking.” Mermista pushed past him to open the pantry. She dug through it for a minute, careful of her nails. “Ah-ha!” She pulled out a box of spaghetti. She turned it over to see the expiration date and grimaced. “It’ll have to do.”

She moved around the kitchen, filling a pot with water and setting it on the stovetop to boil. She took a step back, flapping her hands around as she tried to dry her nails faster. She touched one with the tip of her finger and grinned with it didn’t smudge or move the polish.

Sea Hawk watched in awe as she cooked. She was clearly disappointed by his ingredient selection but worked around it.

“How old are these tomatoes?” she asked.

“Few days. I like to eat them like apples,” Sea Hawk responded. Mermista blinked in disbelief a few times.

“Tell me again why I’m here?”

“Cause you love me,” Sea Hawk said, smiling. Mermista rolled her eyes but smiled all the same.

“Alright, you got me there.” She walked back over to the stove and dropped in the entire box of spaghetti.

“Isn’t that wasting a lot of it? We’re not going to eat all of it.”

“It’s three years old! You weren’t going to eat it at all!” Mermista argued, laughing. Sea Hawk laughed with her.

Mermista stood on the toes of her shoes to reach the spice cabinet.

“I swear these damn white boys,” she muttered.

She angrily tossed red pepper flakes into the sauce she was making.

“Don’t put too much. Those are spicy,” Sea Hawk said. She raised an eyebrow at him and took a deep breath. “What?!”

“You’re dating an Indian girl. We’re going to have to work on that.” She processes to sprinkle more red pepper flakes into the sauce, followed by some seasoning she had found in the back of the cabinet that Sea Hawk had no memory of ever owning.

Soon enough dinner was served. Mermista and Sea Hawk sat across from each other at his small dining table. He took a bite and was pleasantly surprised.

“Wait, this is actually really good,” he said around a mouthful of spaghetti.

“Thanks. My mom taught me to cook well when I was really young.” She took a bite. “This would be so much better with onions and garlic.”

“We’ll go shopping tomorrow. Sorry, my bachelor pad lacks ingredients.”

“You’re in high school. You don’t have a bachelor pad, dummy.” Mermista reached across the table and lightly hit his shoulder. He laughed and Mermista smiled, rolling her eyes.

“This place is nicer with you here,” he said after a moment. Mermista smiled and blushed.

“Yeah, well, I typically bless everyone just by being in their presence.” She jokingly flipped her hair over her shoulder. The couple laughed.

“You’re a dork,” Sea Hawk said.

“So are you.” 

Sea Hawk reached across the table and tapped Mermista’s nose, causing her to go cross-eyed adorably as she looked at his finger.

“Guilty as charged.”

…

The Grayskull family sat around the dinner table. It held six seats, and Catra sat in between Adora and Adam. This felt strange to Catra, sitting at a table with a family - _her family_ -, eating a dinner that wasn’t out of a $2 box that had been thrown in the microwave.

“How is it?” Marlena asked the kids.

“Good!” Adora responded.

“What she said!” Adam said around a mouthful of food.

“Adam, manners,” Randy scolded.

“Sorry.”

“Catra?” Marlena asked. Catra jerked, looking up. 

“Oh, yeah, it’s good. Thank you.”

Marlena smiled sweetly. “There’s no need to thank me, sweetheart.”

Catra smiled sheepishly. She mentally kicked herself. Why was she being so weird? She had eaten dinner with the family a hundred times before. This was no different.

 _It is different, her_ head told her. She pushed away the thoughts. No, it wasn’t. It was just dinner. So what that it was rice with cheese sauce, chicken, and broccoli? So what that it was one of her favorite meals? It meant nothing.

Catra tried to focus on the story Adora was telling. Something about Bow and Sea Hawk being idiots. 

“So, they were running around the quad, looking _everywhere_ for Sea Hawk’s car keys. They looked like headless chickens. Bow even pushed a student over on accident and then cried. I turned around and looked back at the table and Mermista was smiling weirdly. Then I looked down at her open lunchbox and the car keys were sitting right there! It was hilarious.”

“Mermista sounds mean,” Adam said.

“She’s not! She just has a sense of humor.”

“Her confidence is annoying,” he responded.

“Adam, let’s not shit on Adora’s friends. I’m sure Mermista is a lovely girl,” Marlena chimed it.

“She is! Thank you, mom!”

“She’s hot,” Catra said before taking a bite of her food. Everyone stared at her. “What?! It’s objective.”

Adora laughed. “I didn’t want to be the one to say it.” Catra and Adora looked at each other and started to laugh harder.

“Bunch’a useless lesbians,” Adam mumbled.

Catra could forget about everything for a little while in that moment. She was laughing with Adora, eating good food, and sitting at the table with her family. 

She was finally home, she realized. And it felt really good.


	33. Chapter 32

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CW/ non-graphic injury; talk of mental illness; talk of child abuse; lots of crying

“Oh my god, Adora!” Catra called out, but it was too late.

Adora, who was coming downstairs with her laundry basket in her arms, tripped over her untied shoelace and tumbled more than halfway down the stairs.

“OWWW!” she cried, clothes scattered across the floor and basket rolling away from her. She laid halfway on the staircase and halfway on the floor. Catra, who had been watching the incident from the entryway of the house where she was returning from an art class she had started taking downtown, rushed to her.

“Are you okay, are you hurt?!” she asked, carefully helping Adora sit up. She leaned her back against the wall. Adora reached for her ankle.

“Yes, my foot! Owww…” Adora cradled her left foot, tears springing up into her eyes.

“Is it broken?” Catra asked frantically.

“Maybe, I don’t know!”   
“What do you mean you don’t know?! You’re a soccer player!” Catra raised her hands and began to tug at her hair as her anxiety spiked.

“Catra, it’s okay, calm down,” Adora said on the verge of tears. She took a hand off her foot and reached out to comfort Catra. She grabbed her hand and moved it down from her face and then smoothed over Catra’s rustled hair. “It’s gonna be okay, it’s probably just a sprain. Don’t cry, please.”

Catra let out a watery laugh. “How am I not supposed to cry when you’re crying?”

Adora cracked her signature goofy smile. “Dummy.” She held Catra’s hand and ran her thumb over her knuckles.

“You’re the dummy here.”

The two stared at each other for a moment before Adora winced again. 

“Okay, hold on, I’m gonna go find your mom.” Catra stood up and carefully stepped around Adora and the clothes and raced up the stairs.

…

Adora’s sudden injury had taken Catra’s mind off of the thoughts that had been plaguing her for a week now. Ever since she had moved in with Adora, her feelings had been running crazy. She just wanted to grab Adora and make out with her or something!

She tried to crack it up to teenage hormones, but the thoughts didn’t go away. So finally, just when she was about to tell Adora how she felt, the idiot had to get herself horribly hurt.

As it turned out, it wasn't 'just a sprain’. Adora had broken her ankle and now was in the hospital. She was coming home the next day, but Catra still wanted to see her.

Catra hated hospitals. The last time she had been in one was when Shadow Bitch broke her foot and Perfuma took her. She walked through the halls, a visitor badge pinned to her jacket and flowers clutched tightly in her hands.

Room 306. She raised her fist to knock on the door, then lowered it. She bit her lip, then paced in a small circle outside the door.

She couldn’t do this. She just couldn’t! If she went in to see Adora, she would immediately blurt out what she was thinking. Adora had that effect on her. Catra took a deep breath to steady herself. She loosened her grip on the flowers and finally knocked on the door.

“I, uh, brought you flowers. I thought they might brighten up the room,” she said, walking into the room. The curtains were open and the room was covered in the mid-afternoon glow rushing in from outside, but seeing Adora hurt in bed made Catra feel like it was pitch black.

Adora laughed. She was laying in bed with her foot propped up on two pillows and in a cast.

“They’re beautiful.” Catra set the bouquet on the table near the door and made her way to Adora’s bed. She leaned against the railing on her arms.

“How are you feeling?” she asked.

Adora shrugged. “I can’t really feel it. They gave me a bunch of pain meds. But I get to go home tomorrow, so that’s good. I missed you.”

Catra smiled. “It’s been two days.”

Adora pouted. “Two days without seeing you is two days too long.”

Catra laughed. She reached out and ruffled Adora’s ponytail.

“There’s something on your mind,” Adora said, the tone in the room suddenly shifting. Catra’s smiled faded away. She realized Adora’s had too.

“It’s nothing,” Catra said, eyes darting down to the white bedspread.

“It’s not nothing, Catra. I know you.” Adora reached up and cupped Catra’s face in her palm, raising her chin to look at her.

Catra sighed. She bit her lip, trying to figure out what to tell Adora. There was so much to talk about. 

“I feel like I don’t fit in with your family,” she whispered after a moment. Okay, so that definitely wasn’t what she expected to say, but she was here now and had to roll with it.

Adora got a sad look on her face. “Oh, Catra.”

“You’re all so perfect and I’m endlessly fucked up,” Catra continued. 

“Catra, you’re not fucked up. You need help, but you’re not fucked up. It’s okay, I promise. Come here.” Adora wrapped her arms around Catra and pulled her into a hug. Catra buried her face into Adora’s shoulder and tried to hold back her tears. “I’m sorry we didn’t try to get you therapy or something sooner. I thought you would be okay, I’m so stupid.”

Catra shook her head. “You aren’t stupid. I was trying to hide my emotions from you.”

“Why?” Adora rubbed Catra’s back as she held her.

“I didn’t want to bother you,” Catra mumbled.

Adora just hugged her tighter.

“You’re gonna get better, Catra. And I’m going to be by your side the whole time. We can get through this.”   
“Promise?” Catra asked, sniffling. She pulled away from Adora’s embrace.  Adora held her face gingerly, brushing away the tears.

“I promise.”

…

Adora fell back against her pillows. She sighed. Catra had left almost an hour ago but Adora’s thoughts still ran wild because of the interaction. 

She didn’t have a clue how to tell her she loved her. Catra would probably just take it in a friendly way. She always did when Adora tried to tell her. She had no idea that Adora was madly in love with her best friend.

She stared at the flowers still sitting on the table up against the wall. They were red roses and lilacs. She could smell them from her bed. Adora glanced down at her foot.

She huffed, crossing her arms over her chest. She then reached for her phone and opened Google. Her thumbs started typing before she had a moment to think.

_ How do you know if a girl likes you? _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I promise next weeks' chapters won't be so late


	34. Chapter 33

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a day late and very short, I know. I hurt my neck and have been very busy, so this is all I could get done. Thank you for your patience. Final chapter out tomorrow and then next week I have a very special finale for this series being posted!

Finally, sophomore year was over.

Catra dumped all her books from her locker into her backpack. She threw it over her shoulder and slammed her locker door shut one last time. She walked away and quickly fell into line with Adora and Glimmer.

“You coming to the party tonight?” Adora asked the pink-haired girl. Glimmer nodded.

“You know it!”

Adora had gotten her cast off a week prior and ever since had been planning an end-of-the-school-year party. 

“No alcohol this time,” Adora said.

Glimmer laughed. “Good. It went well for nobody last time.”

“What happened?” Catra asked.

“I got drunk and made out with Sea Hawk, then Mermista punched me,” Glimmer explained.

“Oh yeah, you told me that story!”

“I’m told I was giggling like an idiot in the corner the whole time,” Adora said blushing.

“Not surprised.”

The trio walked down the steps of the school. “Freedom!” Glimmer cheered. They walked by a trash can and Glimmer promptly threw her entire schoolbag into it.

“That’s gonna bite you in the ass next year when you forget everything we learned,” Adora said.

“Oh well.” Glimmer shrugged, flipping the sunglasses that were on top of her head down over her eyes.

...

Catra sat on her bed just past 6 pm. She kicked her legs over the side, contemplating. She got up and looked out her window. It was an outdoor party and she could see everyone in the backyard having a great time. She spotted Mermista and Perfuma together and it looked like Bow and Sea Hawk were building a bonfire. Catra sighed.

“I should go down there, I guess.”

Melog meowed in response.

Catra walked over to her closet and began to sort through it. She picked out an unfamiliar halter top. It was red with a cut-out just over the chest. She unfolded it and a note fell out, prompting her to remember what it was.

_ I guess you could say this is a peace offering. _

_ I’m sorry for making fun of you all year, you’re actually pretty cool. _

_ I asked Adora for your measurements and we kinda just guessed, hope it fits! _

_ xoxo _

_ Mermista  _

Catra snorted. She put the top on anyway and was surprised to see it fit perfectly. It was incredibly well made. She was impressed. She smoothed out the fabric, pulled on a cropped leather jacket, dark, ripped jeans, and a pair of black ankle boots.

“Oh shut up you stupid cat,” Catra said. She could feel Melog’s eyes on her from where he sat on her desk.

She pat his head, scratching behind his ears, before leaving the room.

She made her way down the stairs and out to the backyard. She looked around at all the attendees. She didn’t know everybody, only picking out Adora’s immediate friend group from the crowd. Catra heard some people start to whisper. She took a deep breath.

She was gonna do it. This was going to happen tonight, whether she liked it or not. She was going to tell Adora that she loved her to her stupid, adorable, face.

She found Adora on the deck, leaned up against the railing. She had a non-alcoholic punch in her hand and was talking to Mara.

“Hey, Adora,” Catra began. Adora’s head snapped to look at her.

“Oh, hey Catra! Glad you decided to join us.” Adora smiled at her and she walked a little closer.

Catra watched as Adora fell back into her conversation with Mara. She was nervous to confess her feelings in front of all these people, but it had to be done. She loved Adora, and she needed to let her know. The audience would make sure she didn’t chicken out.

When Mara walked off to hang out with someone else, Catra grabbed Adora’s hands in hers and turned her towards her. She took a deep breath.

“Is something the matter, Catra?” Adora asked, cocking her head to the side in concern. Catra shook her head. 

“Uh, no, I just have something to tell you.”

“Oh?” Catra felt Adora stroke her knuckles with her thumb. Catra smiled.

“Um, where to start,” Catra mumbled. “Adora, I like you. I really, really like you.”

Adora smiled widely. “I like you too Catra, you know that.”

Catra rolled her eyes and laughed.

“No, that’s not what I mean. You’re so smart, and funny, and kind, and caring, and you’ve always been my best friend. You only wanted what was best for me and I was so dumb to not realize it.”

Catra couldn’t take her eyes off Adora. She knew if she did it would all come crumbling down. She could see small dots of light in the corner of her eye, no doubt from phone camera littered across the yard.

“And- Adora. I don’t know how to say it but I love you. I always have!” Catra’s words come out all in one breath. She gasped. Adora’s eyes were wide. The blonde began to smile.

“You love me?” she asked, teary-eyed. Catra nodded.

“You’re such an idiot.

Catra grabbed Adora’s face, pulling her down a few inches to her level. She caught her lips in a kiss and her gasps ring out across the yard. She didn’t care though, she just melted into the kiss. She clutched Adora’s hand tightly, almost scared to let go and lose this moment. 

It was everything she had ever dreamed of. She had made it, finally.

“I love you too,” Adora said as they broke apart. Catra beamed.

“You better,” she joked, lightly hitting Adora’s arm.

She didn’t quite know what this meant for them or their future, but Catra was ready to figure it out, as long as Adora was right by her side.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You can read about the Christmas Party in chapter 4 of Assorted Adventures of Etheria High!


	35. Epilouge

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this is a little late, today was my 14th birthday! Here’s the final chapter!

Everyone was lounging in Adora’s room. The blonde in question was furiously packing her things, running over a checklist Glimmer help at least four times.

“Calm down, Adora. I think you have everything,” Perfuma said gently.

“Thinking isn’t enough!” Adora cried.

“You’ve been over that list like a million times already! You have everything!” Mermista groaned.

Adora thought for a moment.

“Okay, okay.” She sat down on her bed. Everyone was still waiting for Catra to finish packing her bags in the other room.

The room was silent for a moment at last.

Mermista finally broke it after a moment. “Weren’t we supposed to be a group trying to fix the school?” she asked, inspecting her manicure. 

“Oh yeah,” Adora said, humming. 

“I think we got distracted when Glimmer started being a total asshole,” Frosta said.

“Frosta, language!” Scorpia and Perfuma scolded in unison.

“I’m almost sixteen, I can swear!”

“You’re like five,” Glimmer responded.

“Oh, and does that make you six?” Frosta shot back. She stuck her tongue out at Glimmer. Glimmer mirrored her.

“Are we ready to go, guys?” Bow asked, walking into the room.

“No, waiting on Catra,” Adora said. “I think I’m gonna go check on her!” Adora jumped up from her seat and ran from the room.

“Hey, everything okay in here?” she asked, poking her head into Catra’s open door.

“Oh, Adora, hi!” Catra jumped.

“You okay?” Adora asked, coming into the room. She walked over to Catra and inspected what she was doing. She was sitting at her desk, writing on pieces of paper. “What’s this?” She picked up the nearest one.

_Dear Scorpia,_

_I know this might not be a proper apology, but I hope it will suffice for now. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry for how I treated you. I was awful and you deserved a much better friend than I was able to be. Thank you for looking out for me and putting up with my shit. I really appreciate it looking back._

_You’re such an amazing person, I promise you that. I’m sure you and Perfuma will be very happy together with Frosta as your adopted child._

_That was a joke, but seriously. I hope you’re happy wherever you end up._

_Thank you for giving me a second chance. I plan to be the friend you always deserved all along in the future._

_Much love,_

_Catra_

“Catra, oh, wow, are you writing apology letters?”

Catra nodded solemnly. “It’s what they deserve before we leave, you know? We’re gonna be gone for a month and I had no idea how I was gonna find the time to apologize. It felt shitty to do it over text. This is more thoughtful.” Catra went back to the letter she was writing. Adora leaned over and caught that it was addressed to Entrapta.

Adora bent down and kissed Catra’s cheek. She felt giddy doing it, that she could finally be affectionate with Catra the way she had always wanted. Catra blushed and smiled.

“Go, the longer you distract me the longer it’ll be before we leave and the madder Arrow and Sparkles will get.” Adora laughed and ruffled Catra’s hair.

“Are you things packed?”

Catra nodded. “Yes, now go.” She pointed to the door. Adora jokingly saluted her and marched out of the room.

“Make out with her long enough?” Mermista asked from her spot on Adora’s rug.

“Oh, shut it. She’ll be a few more minutes.” Adora climbed back into her bed.

“Wanna go ahead and load up the car?” Bow asked.

“Oh, good idea!” Glimmer said. She grabbed up the duffel bag sitting on the floor at her feet.

“Any of you guys want to help?” Adora asked as she gathered her things.

“Uh, no, these nails are new,” Mermista said, tapping away on her phone.

“Come on, let’s help them.” Perfuma grabbed the collar of Mermista’s shirt and gently tugged. Mermista complied with a groan and got up off the floor.

Everyone helped load Adora, Bow, and Glimmer’s luggage into Glimmer’s car. As they finished, Catra came outside with all her things and three sealed envelopes. 

Adora put her bags into the car and watched as Catra walked up to Entrapta.

“This is for you,” she handed the purple envelope to the pigtailed girl.

“What’s this?” she asked.

“Uh, don’t open it until we leave,” Catra said hastily. 

Entrapta eyed her suspiciously but didn’t question her. Catra turned to Scorpia standing next to her and handed her the red envelope. She searched the small crowd before walking over to Mermista and pushing the blue envelope into her hands.

Mermista looked at Catra for a moment before pulling her into a hug.

“Have a safe trip and a good time. We’ll see you next month.” Catra smiled as they pulled away.

“Thanks,” she whispered.

Catra walked over to join Adora, Bow, and Glimmer. Adora put her arm around Catra’s shoulders.

“Are we ready?” Glimmer asked.

“Ready, baby?” Adora asked Catra. Catra smiled and nodded.

“Let’s get this adventure started,” Catra affirmed.

At last, Catra knew where she belonged.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much to everyone who’s been here since the beginning, middle, and end! I love all of you. This story has been such an adventure and I’m glad you’ve all had just as much fun as I have. It’s not quite over yet. Next Thursday the final chapter of Assorted Adventures of Etheria will go up and on Friday a songfic I’ve been teasing for the finale of this series will be up! I’ll see you there.


End file.
